Grace
by Nanuri169
Summary: Grace fled Mystic Falls after her parents died in an accident because she couldn't cope with the horrible grief. When she comes back, she isn't the shy, victimized school girl anymore. She developed into a confident young woman and ready to take over responsibility for her younger siblings. But how will she react to the truth about the things she missed when she was gone?
1. Chapter 1

_"Miss Gilbert?"_

 _Sheriff Forbes stood on the porch of Grace's home. She had been here dozens of times as the families always had been close. But mostly she had been here to walk her daughter Caroline over when she was younger._

 _That was the odd thing. Since when did Sheriff Forbes call her ‚Miss Gilbert'? She knew Grace since she was a baby and when she'd been a teenager, she even entrusted her Caroline to watch over her and Elena when she was working late._

 _Confusion was visible on her face, but deep inside her she knew that something terrible had happened. Her parents and Elena weren't back home from that stupid party. It was odd but Grace had thought that they just had stopped somewhere to grab something to eat._

 _"Can I come in?"_

 _Grace nodded, barely holding herself together. She made space for Sheriff Forbes to come in and for some minutes, her life moved in slow motion. The young woman already had realized that this would change her whole life, but her mind was still fighting it._

 _Together with Sheriff Forbes, she sat down in the kitchen and she examined the face of the women she had known for her whole life. Grace always had been good at watching people. Usually people had more than one expression on their faces. Mostly one they wanted the people to see and another expressing what they truly felt or thought. But on the Sherifs face was only one emotion visible: pity. It seemed to be a true feeling, but Grace couldn't decide whether she pitied herself for having to tell a girl that she lost everything or if she pitied that Grace actually lost everything. Maybe a thad bit of both, but Sheriff Forbes was a good person, so she most likely really felt sorry._

 _"I'm so sorry to tell you...to tell you that your parents died in a car accident."_

 _Strangely Grace was so calm at that moment. She just sat there and stared at the scratched wood of the old dining table. So many happy memories clung to it. Even though she always had found this piece of furniture ugly, it helped her focus._

 _"Miss Gilbert?...Um, Grace? Grace, are you alright?"_

 _Grace only then realized that she had been staring at one point of the table for minutes now. That must've looked really creepy. A lot of people found Grace creepy and maybe she had to admit that she was. She often reacted differently from what was usual._

 _But loosing her parents wasn't usual. Of course she wasn't alright._

 _"Yes, yes. I'm alright...You said my parents. Where's Elena?"_

 _Sheriff Forbes gave her a worried look. She was acting too rational. Grace's head was spinning but her brain always was reliable in panic or stress situations. Asking about her sister was a proper thing to do, though she knew that it was Elena that had called her parents off to pick her up from this party she never was supposed to go. Through the always too loud speaker of their phone, she had heard that Elena had trouble with Matt and that she hadn't had a ride back home. The good parents they were they instantly went to their car to get Elena._

 _That's why Grace couldn't be mad. It wasn't Elena's fault, of course it wasn't. Accidents happen. In that moment Grace was happy that her mind protected itself by not letting any emotions come to surface. She was now the oldest Gilbert and she needed to take care of things._

 _"She's at the hospital. It's a miracle, she isn't seriously injured."_

 _Again Grace nodded making an inner checklist about the things she had to do now. She stood up and Sheriff Forbes followed her to the door._

 _"Grace, if you need any help, just..."_

 _The young woman flashed her a friendly smile and stood straight, but at the same time she wished to punch that look of pity out of the Sheriffs' face. But Grace knew that she meant well and that she was just doing her job._

 _"No, I'll take care of everything."_

 _Since that moment everyone waited for Grace to break down, like any normal person would. But she never did, at least not to the outside. She never cried, she never screamed, she never blamed Elena or was mean to anyone._

 _She took care of everything. But when the funeral was done and everything settled, she packed her bags and left Mystic Falls._

 _..._

Grace looked up from the exam in front of her and to the clock. Wow, she had been daydreaming for five minutes. Fortunately she had already been finished with her exam on historical linguistics fifteen minutes ago. Still, she never had been pulled into some kind of flashback like that. Her thoughts had wandered but usually they never went into her past, especially not to that moment. She was a person to look forward.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back and studied the sheets in front of her. They were written to the edges with her crappy handwriting. Grace had always been more of a person to type, she hated to see her handwriting, but for exams it unfortunately was a requirement. She also hated that she had to write an exam about historical linguistics, she rather would've liked to write a term paper on this broad field of her history studied. Although she wasn't an expert of language, she found it fascinating how the development of a little variant in language become such a big change that today Old English felt like a foreign language. But a term paper on that topic would've been about the development of pidgin languages during times of slavery. Maybe she could write about that in an upcoming seminar.

The professor in front of the mass of people told his students to end their writing and ironically, like always, panic started to spread and the students wrote even faster. Grace just smiled while the sound of pens scraping on paper became louder.

Some minutes later, Grace stood outside the lecturing hall and turned her phone back on. The other students around her were chattering about how hard the exam was and how they were going to fail. Grace was sure that she wouldn't fail. She never did. At beginning of her studies she would not find any friends like in school, but the environment of the university made things easier for Grace. It was okay to work hard, but it was also ok to not study at all, but the good students always were the state-of-the-art. People looked up to her and slowly, but steady, Grace got out of her tight up stereotype. She started to go to parties, she got drunk way too often, she started to laugh, she started to be honest and show emotions. It was a good thing. Grace was happy here, happier than she ever had been.

An unknown number had called her four times during the exam. Grace frowned when the number showed up again. Unknown numbers never were a good sign, but still, she answered the call.

"Miss Gilbert?"

The caller spoke before Grace could say anything. A shiver ran down her spine, a feeling of deja vu crept up. That she just had been thinking about the exact same situation didn't make it any better.

Who had died now?

It wasn't Sheriff's Forbes voice that spoke to her, but still this just felt too familiar for her.  
When Grace didn't say anything, the person on the line continued to speak. Self-confident, chatty, Grace noted.

"Miss Gilbert, I'm calling to let you know that Miss Sommers gave up her position as a legal guardian for your siblings. We know that you already have refused to do that on your own, but there's no one else to do that. The next step would be to look for a family to stay at for your brother and your sister, but of course it would be better if they could stay at their home. So I want to ask you to reconsider."

Silence erupted and Graced clutched her phone hard. This was a lot to take in. Jenna had volunteered to be Jeremy's and Elena's legal guardian. Everyone had understood that Grace wasn't ready to do it and they let her go off to university, no one officially blamed her. Grace and Jenna had had their personal problems over the time, as they were only 4 years apart from age and grown up like sisters, but Grace had been grateful that Jenna took the job over. It was strange that she gave it up. Jenna wasn't a person to do that.

"Miss Gilbert, are you still there?"

Grace was ripped out of her thoughts by the busy, but still cheery voice. She had to make a choice, but to be honest, there wasn't one. Of course she couldn't abandon her siblings again. She couldn't allow them to be ripped out of their home, to endure the horrible life of orphans.

"Yes...I mean, yes, I will do it."


	2. Chapter 2

Mystic Falls.

The place were everything began.

When Grace left two years ago a wave of joy crashed on her when she saw the town's sign in the rear mirror of her car. Today it was in front of her, like the many other times in her life, but it was the first time since her parents had died. She didn't know how to feel about it. Of course she was happy to see her siblings again, but at the same time she was afraid that it would be stiff and tensed, like when she left, again. Deep inside her she knew that Elena and Jeremy understood that she had to leave after their parent's death, but still she felt guilty. They suffered, too, but Grace was the one that fled from her problems.

But today she would face them. Today would be different.

Grace stopped in front of the cozy little house that she called a home or her whole youth. It hurt seeing it, but it was nice to see that nothing had changed. After taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and slung her duffel back over her small shoulder.

Taking it for granted that the people already told her siblings that she would come, she hadn't called them. To be honest she hadn't talked much to them at all in the last two years. Another wave of guilt hit her.

Entering the porch, she smiled when she heard the familiar squeaking noise the old wood made when she stepped over it. For a second she debated whether to just unlock the door with her keys and go right in or to knock. Both felt wrong, but she decided that it would be better to go the ‚softer' way and knock. It took some time for anyone to open, so Grace thought that no one was home, but when she turned around to leave, the door was ripped open and Elena's voice was heard, talking to someone behind her.

But when Elena saw who was standing in front of her, she immediately stopped speaking. Her mouth hung open, usually Grace would've made a comment about how funny it looked, but she herself was kind of stunned to see her beautiful sister.

"Grace?"

Her younger sister whispered, her innocent brown eyes staring at her like a doe caught in the headlights. She surely was stunned by her sister's appearance. When Grace had left she had looked like she felt: a shy schoolgirl, always with baggy non-fashionable clothing hanging around her small figure, never applying any make up. Now she wore a short summer dress which fell around her hips lightly, still emphasizing her slim appearance. Her hair was carefully braided to the side. Cat-like eyes and dark purple lipstick would made every town boy swoon.

Grace had changed, in a way she liked very much. She still wasn't overly confident, but never again would she be a victim.

"Hi, Elena."

Her voice was calm and the girls stared at each other for tensed seconds. But Grace suddenly couldn't hold back her wide smile anymore and the sisters fell into each other's arms laughing. All her doubts were washed away when she held her baby sister in her arms. It got even better when she felt another pair of arms being wrapped around her. Jeremy. Tears pooled in Grace's arms and she regretted that she didn't come her sooner. She was their older sister and she was supposed to act like it and watch out for them. On the other hand university made her grow up and now she was ready to get into her new position.

After short minutes of greetings and held back tears they went into the kitchen to talk. It instantly felt like home again. Jenna and her siblings really hadn't changed anything. Grace just noticed change in themselves. Elena wasn't the cheery, kind of bitchy to be honest, kind of girl anymore. And Jeremy…it nearly broke Grace. He had grown up so much, a boy caught in the body of a young man. Grace didn't mind the obvious emo-phase, as she went through that herself, but she could see how pained he still was. Of course. He had lost the people he looked up to, but he also lost his older sister, the one he had always been so close to. Grace and Jeremy were the same and she hoped that she could restore that bond. But maybe she couldn't because she had to act different now. Never would she be their parent, but she had to take over responsibility and make the difficult decisions to protect her.

"Um…what are you doing here?"

The tension was back and Elena spared Jeremy a side glance, asking for help. Grace immediately sensed that something was wrong here and frowned.

"I was told that Jenna gave up legal-guardianship for you and I took over. Didn't anyone tell you?"

Her siblings looked at each other meaningfully which confused Grace even more. Definitely a lot has changed.

"No…"

Grace sighed and shook her head. Wow, the guys caring about things like that surely must be busy if they mess something up like that.

"Well, I'm back. And I'm going to stay. Do you know why Jenna left?"

Elena looked up to her from under her eyelashes, her lips a tight line.

"There were personal matters…but I think she left because she thought that she wasn't doing good. To be honest we didn't made it easy for her."

Grace was sure that it wasn't the whole truth, she knew Elena too good for that, but she let her go with it. She would find out on her own, but anyway, it didn't matter anymore.

"I hope you'll make it easier for your big sister. Tell me, what did I miss?"

She leaned back on her chair and the tensed situation was fortunately away. Grace would spare the serious talk for later. Both her siblings smiled widely. It felt good that they had missed her and were happy to welcome her back.

Elena chattered about school and blushed when Jeremy blurted out that she had a new boyfriend. Grace raised an eyebrow at the fact that her boyfriend and his brother were new in town, no one ever was new in Mystic Falls.

"Please, come to the dance tonight, Grace. You can meet everyone."

For this short moment Elena was back to the girl Grace knew. She always had loved parties and usually her sister never came with her. Elena nearly hopped on her stool, excited to see if Grace would finally come with her.

"Yeah I'll come. Will be good to see all the old lads."

Her younger sister squeaked happily and rushed upstairs. Jeremy just grinned.

"She forgot to tell you that Jenna signed up for supervision before she left. I think you have to take that over."

Grace rolled her eyes and groaned, while her brother laughed at the face she made. Responsibility started sooner than she thought. But still, it was good to be home again.

…  
"They still do like a hundred crappy dances year after year. Do you actually learn something in school or are you just busy decorating the gym?"

Grace muttered while stopping her car at the parking lot of the school. Elena rolled her eyes at her sister's authorial behavior. More changes.

"You know that all the decorating goes to Caroline. And what's wrong with having fun?"

They got out of the car together and Grace straightened the skirt of her short black dress before looking up to the building of the school. Memories streamed back into her mind and none of them were good. But it was over. Grace was another person now.

"Nothing is wrong with having fun. But you haven't experienced college parties, so you can't tell what fun is…well I'm not supposed to tell you that, because I'm responsible for you and I have to keep you from underage drinking, but you'll do it anyway, so…"

The sisters chuckled in unison.

"…let's just pretend we had a serious conversation about underage drinking and safer sex, so we don't have to worry about such awkward things you already know and never listen to."

"Deal!"

Elena shook her older sister's outstretched hand. It was nice that at least things between Grace and her siblings were kind of normal. Of course there were still enough unsolved issues, but they had plenty of time. Grace wasn't going anywhere.

"You look awesome tonight, Grace."

She spared her little sister a side glance, but smiled thankfully. It must be hard for Elena to accept that her sister changed so much, but she knew that Grace was happier now. Before she left, Grace never had any fun, she never dressed up and never simply enjoyed herself. University cured that pretty well.

"You, too, little sis. Let's get into this shade of boringness, shall we?"

They entered the gym and loud, modern music rang in Grace's ears. Oh well, the soft core ballads are spared for the later evening. In front of them was a mass of crappy dancing teenager which looked particularly embarrassing. The older students, like Elena's friends were standing at the edges of the gym, laughing at the younger ones that had to use their time as they had to leave at 10 pm.

When they got a look on Grace, all of their eyes widened. Surprise was visible in their faces, remembering the nerdy girl that left two years ago. Quickly the boys expressions turned into lust, which got them snarky comments from the girls they were making out with and shot Grace looks of envy. Grace smiled sweetly and followed her sister through the mass.

"Look who's back from the city!"

Caroline voice sounded less cheery then intended as she was still busy taking Grace's appearance in. But her smile grew wider and she hugged her former babysitter. Over Carolines shoulder she could see Bonnie, Tyler and Matt who were waving at her slightly. When the blonde let go of her, she let her gaze wander over the mass. She knew nearly everyone in here. Nothing had changed. The girls still looked awkward in their heels. They were yet too young to learn about the confidence these little gadgets provided.

"Grace, this is Stefan."

Elena appeared behind her and Grace turned around to see her next to a very attractive young man. He had a kind smile on her face and the older sister was immediately calmed. Though she could see that there was a lot of unspoken darkness in this boy, he obviously was a good guy. Grace guessed difficult childhood.

Curious glances were on the oldest Gilbert, but she disappointed the folks looking for a scandal when she smiled widely and shook Stefan's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Grace."

"It's a pleasure, Stefan."

With one look, everything was told. Grace wasn't going to do a ‚protective older sister'-speech on the poor guy. From the corner of her eye, she saw another unfamiliar figure joining the group. The man was older than Stefan and in a unusual way they looked similar. Not in their facial features, but in the way the two men carried themselves.

He was damn handsome, his baby blue eyes would make every women melt. But not Grace. He definitely wasn't her type, she didn't like this obvious way of handsomeness, that kind of guy that knew that he was way too sexy.

"Wow, who are you, mystery girl?"

A smirk was on his face and he looked Grace up and down. His eyes lingered on her long legs and her cleavage and the older Gilbert would have loved to vomit. How rude. Well, again, definitely not her type.

"I'll consider telling you if you tell me who you are."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised a brow. But Grace was sure that he would definitely interpret her signs the wrong way. He was that type of guy that couldn't understand if a girl resisted his charms.

"Damon Salvatore. Stefan's older brother."

Everyone rolled their eyes at Damon. He must've had a reputation. Stefan lowered his gaze and muttered ‚unfortunately' to which Grace smiled.

"Grace Gilbert. Elena's and Jeremy's older sister."

Damon's eyes widened shortly in surprise before he quickly went back to his flirtatious mask.

"Well, Grace, maybe the grown ups should go and get a stronger drink. We could discuss more adult topics."

His smirked widened and didn't let anything open to imagination. Grace snorted.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Damon, but I'm here to take over responsibility. Do you know that term or should I get you a dictionary?"

With that, Grace turned around and left Damon standing. The people around her made a sound of surprise and amusement. Seems like no one before ditched Damon like that. Grace smiled to herself and strutted through the gym to get herself a cup of punch.

She took a sip of it and wrinkled her nose in disgust. That was pretty bad stuff. Of course no alcohol, way too sweet. Who the hell made that?

"Pretty bad, isn't it?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind her. Another man she didn't know leaned on the wall, he obviously was as much bored as Grace was. She shot him a sympathetic look and stood next to him. "Alaric Saltzman. New history teacher."

She remembered the name from all the things Elena told her this afternoon. He was the guy Jenna had a crush on, if her memory served her right. Her younger sister had babbled so much, but Grace only listened to half of it as it was simply too much to get. It still was sweet how obvious it was that Elena missed her talking sessions with her sister.

"Aw, the guy that cared so lovely about my siblings. I'm Grace. Thank you so much for taking care of them."

Alaric smiled and shortly examined her. It wasn't rude, like Damon was, it was clear that he was taken. Grace smiled back, she surely wasn't looking for a partner here. She hadn't been the relationship-type lately, but Grace had to admit that Jenna had a good taste. But then she remembered the last time Jenna and her had the same taste. Quickly she pushed the thought away.

„Oh, right, they told me about you. Not much, just that you study history. Do you also want to become a teacher?"

He was pleasurable to talk to, as he seemed interested, but not overly curious.

"I don't know yet, I think I would prefer to teach college students. I'm not that good with children."

The teacher just chuckled and wanted to continue the conversation, when another voice chirped in.

"Grace! How nice to see you back in town! How long will you stay?"

Carol Lockwood hugged Grace out of the blue. Alaric chuckled and lifted his cup in a greeting manner, but disappeared into the mass to give them privacy.

"Uh, I took one semester off to take care of Elena and Jeremy. Depends on how things work out here, I guess."

Grace already had heard that her husband died and she was the new mayor. She quitted any condolences, as she knew how horrible it was to be reminded of death over and over.

"That's good, Grace! I heard that you study history. Can you please join the historical society for as long as you're staying? Since your mother is…gone it completely lost its spirit. I'm way too busy to take care of it since I'm mayor, so it really would be of great help if you could join."

The younger woman remembered when her mother took her sometimes to the meetings because she was so interested in history. Her mother was so proud when Grace decided to study history. She couldn't turn this offer down, it kind of was her families' legacy. But the historical society was a bunch of elderly women that were arrogant as hell just because they carried a certain founders' last name and just came to the meetings to chit chat. Maybe she could do something about that, Grace mused. But at least she could help Carol with it.

"Yeah, I'll do that."

Carol's smiled widened in relief and Grace returned it. One good deed a day…

"The next meeting is tomorrow at 3 pm. See you there!"

Satisfied with her work, Carol stormed off and Grace leaned back onto the wall. The music had a more slow tune now, couples were dancing closely together as the younger students disappeared from the dance floor. Grace spotted her sister dancing with her boyfriend and smiled. Elena seemed to be happy again. It was good that she had Stefan, he helped her recover, it was obvious. She hoped for Elena that this teenage love would stay that lovely and innocent for as long as possible. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, when she finally got Elena and Jeremy to school, Grace cared about her own stuff. Fortunately it wasn't much of a problem to take a semester off. She quickly found someone to take over her one room apartment in New York for the time she was gone.

Grace missed the noise of the city. The silence here now that she was all alone in the house was unbelievingly 'loud'. But still, Grace was surprised how fast she felt home again. Maybe the distance between her and Mystic Falls had helped her realize that this town wasn't that bad after all.

What she definitely had learned during her time of living on her own was to actually survive in the expensiveness of New York. Of course life in Virginia was much less expensive, but still bills had to be paid. Grace checked the incomes and bills of the family and was shocked when she saw how it really looked like. Their parents had left them quite the amount of money, but her siblings had lived off it without any income.

Seems like no one cared so far that money gets less when there's no income. The young woman sighed and covered her face with her hands. She had assumed that something like this would happen. Grace herself earned her money by proofreading and correcting historical papers. It would be enough to get her family food and pay the most important bills, but she had to talk to her siblings about getting jobs. They never had to help with the families's income before, but they had to grow up concerning this. At least the house was fully paid without any depts.

Some years ago, Grace never would've imagined that she would've to care about a family at her young age. But her siblings relied on her, it was the most important job she had to do.

She now regretted having herself talked into the historical society. Grace was sure that this wouldn't end with attending the meetings and have a nice tea time. Carol slowly wanted to hand her over the responsibility for the old ladies' club. If handling rebellious siblings wasn't enough.

What bothered her the most was that her siblings, especially Elena were acting strange. After she danced with Stefan, the two seemed to get into a quarrel with Damon and Elena was busy running around with a 'I'm on a mission'-look. They sure kept something important from her, but how could she get through to them? Grace had been away for so long, she wasn't in the position to ask questions.

After Grace ate a cup of instant noodles, she noticed that it was already afternoon and that she had together ready for the historical society meeting. She spent nearly half an hour in front of her closet, only to find something that wouldn't cause too much of a scandal for the tight up elderly women. But actually she couldn't care less, her whole presence at the meeting would be a scandal.

At least the weather was fine. When she stepped outside, she stood still for a moment, just enjoying the sun on her skin and the fresh air. Mystic Falls's air was the enjoyable scent of the woods, mixed with the smell of small town drama. Grace loved it. She remembered playing in the woods as a child, even though it was forbidden. But Grace always had a soft spot for the forbidden things.

She took a deep breath before walking in the direction of the Lockwood estate. As she walked, she thought about the countless times she'd passed this way. Carol and her mother had been pretty close concerning voluntary work and often Grace had accompanied her. She always had admired the Lockwood estate, the family kept it very well. So much history could be discovered here.

Grace went up the stairs and knocked at the huge door and was greeted by a widely smiling Carol shortly after. She hugged the younger woman tightly. "Thank you so much for coming, Grace. It's so good to have you here." Returning the smile, Grace walked in followed Carol to the meeting room.

"It's my pleasure, Carol."

They entered the room and as yesterday at the dance, all eyes were on her. Mumbling was being heard as the ladies whispered about Grace's appearance. 'Look who's back from the city' could be heard from nearly every mouth. But when she approached everyone and shook hands, they all flashed Grace fake smiles. She didn't mind, she was used to that and played the game along.

Grace took the seat next to the head of the table where Carol sat. She fiddled out her phone and checked if any messages from her siblings came, but all seemed to be quiet.

"We'll welcome an author today that wants to start research on the founding of Mystic Falls today. It'll distract them, believe me."

Carol shot her a sympathetic look, which Grace appreciated much. It was good to have the major on her side.

Grace wondered about a writer coming here. Usually all those stories about the heroic founders wasn't really special, it could be found in any town in the south. She shrugged and noted that she could become more open minded. Mystic Falls was a beautiful litte town with a well-established society of engaged inhabitants, why wouldn't it be interesting?

Maybe the ladies would be happy about getting an elderly gentleman that matched them, it could get them out of their circle of boredom. At least Grace assumed that this writer would be elderly...

...never had she been that wrong. Or particularly right, but that was a thing that she would find out later.

"Um, Grace, I wanted to ask you...you know since I'm the mayor I really lack of time...can you host Mr. Smith? Show him around a little and assist him? I don't know anyone who I could trust with representing our town properly, just you."

Grace lifted her eyebrows, thinking. As if she hadn't had anything else to do. A lot of papers she was reading were due.

"Carol, I don't know if I..."

The words stumbled on her tongue when he entered. He had this presence that took anyones attention. Grace's eyes were fixed on him and she took his appearance in. Well dressed in a suit, hair that invited to run her hands through it and a damn attractive way. Not in the obvious way, like Damon, but in a way that sent a shiver down her spine. But his eyes were what confused her most. She couldn't read him. His face was a charming mask and his eyes told an ancient story, but there was no hint in them what he had lived through.

His gaze flickered to Gaze and lingered on her just a second longer than on usual encounters. But quickly his eyes released her and he greeted Carol smiling.

"I'm Elijah Smith. Thank you for inviting me to your meeting, it's a pleasure."

His voice caressed Grace's senses like dark velvet. She couldn't explain to herself why she reacted that way, but maybe she was just intrigued. It had been long since she found a man attractive.

Elijah turned towards the group of people sitting around the table and started to speak about his studies here. He sounded highly educated and Grace turned more interested by the second. She was excited that someone was here that seemed to share her affection towards history.

Mr. Smith's arrival was the only thing that the meeting contained today. When he was finished speaking, the ladies got back to their chattering and Grace felt kind of lost. Carol was talking to this handsome mystery man and no one seemed to take the young woman into the conversation. She was just about to stand up and leave when suddenly Carol turned towards her.

"...and this is Ms. Gilbert. She'll host you for your time here."

She sent Grace a determined look and she didn't dare to object. So it was settled then. From the corner of her eye she noticed that Elijah's eyes sparked when he heard her last name.

"Please, call me Grace."

Grace stretched her out to shake his, but instead he took her head and lifted it up, placing a light kiss on her knuckles.

"It's a pleasure, Grace. My name is Elijah."

His hand felt warm on hers and goosebumps settled on her arms. Their eyes met again and Grace noticed their dark brown color. She couldn't tell if it was a warm or cold tone. It was unusual for her not to see right through a persons intentions, but it felt good. Sometimes it was hard to be able to predict nearly every peoples thoughts or emotions. Elijah was like a riddle she wanted to solve.

"It's an interesting topic you chose to explore. Small towns are usually not on the average historian's list of interest."

Grace hands sunk to her side when Elijah released her. Carol shortly looked between her and the author before she noticed that her work here was done and disappeared.

"Maybe I'm not the average historian. I know the history of the south's towns seems rather well documented and explored, but if you spare a closer look..."

His voice turned into a whisper and he leaned in a little closer.

"...most of documents are lies. Mystic Falls is one of the places where I noticed gaps in history. What better way to find out about that than visit this lovely town, especially if its inhabitants are so...welcoming."

Grace's eyes shone in an excited manner. She didn't knew about those gaps and her interest was sparked. It really was unexplored field, within the well-known American history.

"I would be thrilled to help you. Do you need an assistant? On voluntary basis, of course. I worked for some time as a professor's assistant at university."

A little smile flashed on his features. It made him even more handsome, if that was possible at all.

"So you're a historian yourself, Grace?"

She liked the way her name rolled of his tongue gently.

"Yes, I mean, no, not yet. I study at the University of New York, but I'm taking a gap semester right now. Family issues, long story."

He chuckled, but it was visible that he had taken interest in her, too.

"Those are the worst, aren't they? ...I usually work alone, but I think it might be of benefit if I got someone from here at my side. The Gilberts are one of the founding families, too, am I right?"

Grace felt the urge to jump in joy, but she kept herself from such childish behavior. She was simply happy that she wouldn't have to give up her desire while living in Mystic Falls. Working with a historical author was a great opportunity.

"Yes, you are. I've got tons of books at my home, do you want to have a look at them?"

"I would love to."

Grace smiled and took her jacket from the chair, but it was taken from her hands by him. He held it up to help her into it. She slightly blushed, something that hadn't happened in years. Elijah followed her outside the Lockwood estate. They walked side by side on the walkway. It was already getting dark and the air was getting cooler.

"Some years ago, I gave some lectures in New York. I remember the eager students."

Grace started to wonder why she never heard his name before. She really had to look his name up. Nearly all of the lecturers invited to talk in the university were famous historians.

"Wow, you did? I'm honored to have you here, Elijah. Sorry if I'll bother you with tons of questions."

She reached the porch of her home and searched for her keys in her pocket before unlocking the door.

"Ask whatever you want. The questions you ask how deeply you engaged into the topic. Without that we wouldn't have any cause to do research."

His words were so intelligent, but still not arrogant or pompous. Talking to him made Grace feel the spark of interest inside her. She loved her studies and this would help her continue with them, even though she couldn't be at the university right now.

She opened the door widely and motioned inside.

"Come on in."

A satisfied grin appeared on her face, it didn't really fit in, but Grace didn't bother thinking about it more deeply. Grace rushed inside and opened the doors to the wardrobe where they kept the old books. It was already too late to invite him for coffee, so Elijah stood next to her while she pulled the boxes out. They were filled to the edges with documents from the beginning of the town's records.

Elena came down the stairs and stopped in front of Grace and frowned.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The older sister looked up and grinned.

"Oh, perfect timing! Here, take this."

She handed Elena a heavy box to which she groaned.

"What is this stuff?"

Elena shot her a confused gaze, she knew about Grace's devotion to history, but she thought her interests lay way more back in time than the founder's days.

"Mom's files from the historical society. I got roped in helping Mrs. Lockwood."

Grace rolled her eyes, but chuckled because Elijah was still behind the opened door.

"...and by roped, I mean very excited to participate."

She closed the door and turned to face Elijah who flashed her and Elena a friendly smile.

"Hi. I'm Elijah."

He greeted Grace's younger sister, while she placed the boxes on the dining table. When she noticed that Elena wasn't following her and was just staring at Elijah, Grace got the box out of her arms.

"Elijah is here on research about Mystic Falls."

When she was finished with the boxes, she stepped next to Elena.

"You're welcome to stay here and rummage through the stuff, or Elena and I will help you get it into your car."

Then she remembered that he probably left his car at the Lockwood mansions as he walked here with her. She innerly slapped herself for her dumbness. She was just too overly excited, but never would she let that come to surface.

"Or I'll get someone to pick it up tomorrow."

His smile was charming, Grace liked seeing it. She assumed that he didn't smile that often.

"Sounds like a plan."

Grace turned around to lead Elijah out of the house.

"Thank you very much for inviting me into your home, Grace."

She heard him saying goodbye to Elena and Grace wondered why her sister was acting that strange. Elena nearly looked frightened, it was unusual for her to be not polite to someone.

"No, I thank you. It's a pleasure to work with you."

She said when he reached her at the door. He again took her hand and kissed it. After that he stepped out into the night.

"Goodnight, Grace."

"Goodnight, Elijah."


	4. Chapter 4

Grace closed the door after Elijah left. She stood still for a moment and thought about what had just happened and smiled. He was damn attractive and a gentleman at that. She really looked forward to working with him and hoped that he wouldn't forget about her.

But what what bothered her more was Elena's strange behavior. Grace decided to check on her little sister and knocked on her door. Shortly after her face showed up as she opened the door a little. Grace frowned, why wouldn't she open the door fully? She also had a rushed expression on her face.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

Elena stroked her hair back nervously and spared a glance behind her shoulder before she opened the door so Grace could come in.

"Yes, yes. Just tired."

Grace noticed the widely opened window and her frown turned into a knowing smile.

"You know Stefan doesn't have to leave through the window. It's ok if he stays over."

Her sister shook her head sadly and Grace cocked her head questioningly. It hurt her seeing Elena stressed like this. She remembered her as this carefree girl, but she wasn't anymore. She had grown up quite too fast.

"Stefan and I broke up."

Grace immediately understood her behavior now. Lovesickness, of course. At least something normal in this household.

"Oh Elena, I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

She hugged her younger sister tightly and Elena was relived that she bought the half-lie. Elena buried her face in Grace's shoulder and tears were shed into the fabric of her shirt. Grace padded Elena's back and simply held still, being there for her sister. She knew she needed comfort badly.

The sisters fell a sleep together in Elena's bed after some time of talking. It helped Elena getting her mind of it as Grace told her some boy stories from university, which made the younger Gilbert smile. Something she hadn't really done in some time.

...

The next day, after Grace got her siblings out of the house to school, she changed into sport clothing to go running for a while. She always had liked the feeling how it cleared her head, just listening to her favorite music over headphones and the steady beat of her feet pounding on the street. It held her body in balance and it was awesome to let some steam off. Before her head been filled with thoughts that she did really bad as a legal guardian. She sucked at making breakfast or anything and she hadn't asked about any grades or something. Grace probably should talk to Mr. Saltzman because he seemed to be a pretty relaxed teacher, plus he knew of the Gilbert's situation, so he won't judge.

Grace figured that she would have some time before the guy Elijah wanted to send for the boxes would be at her home, so that was her time frame to run through Mystic Falls' quiet streets. When she was a student, she never really was interested in sports and did pretty bad at the subject in school. She always had been that clumsy, skinny girl that always looked unhealthy. That really had changed since she started to take better care of herself. She still was very slim, but in a more healthy way. Her legs and stomach were toned, which gave her just the perfect kind of curves. Confidence had developed with every day at university and she never had issues again with being a victim. She did it all by herself.

After an hour of running she arrived back home and frowned when she saw a car parked in front of her house. She hadn't expected the assistant that early. There wasn't anyone in the expensive SUV and Grace turned to the door confused.

"Miss Gilbert."

Elijah's voice suddenly came up from close behind her. Grace flinched and turned around, her hand on her chest to face the man. God, he was good at sneaking up behind someone.

"I apologize, Grace. It wasn't my intention to scare you."

She just shook her head and smiled, but then she noticed that she only wore a sports bra and tight yoga pants and flushed. He on the hand was again so well dressed. Dark suit, leaving the upmost buttons open which gave it a bit of causality back. He seemed to have a thing for being dressed a little over the top, but damn, he rocked that suit. It highlighted his gentlemanly character.

"No, I just didn't expect you here. Thought you wanted to send an assistant."

Grace motioned for him to follow her inside and lead him into the kitchen. She miserably failed at arranging her hair in a decent way. Running always left it in a disheveled state, even if she always tried to do a neat ponytail.

"I figured that I have enough time to do it on my own. I hope I don't bother you too much."

His eyes shortly flickered down her body and he seemed to be pleased by what he saw. It wasn't like he was being impolite, it felt quite natural, but still Grace shivered under his gaze. He had this kind of look that made her feel as if he was seeing right through her.

"No, of course you don't. I'll just need to change. Tea or coffee?"

Grace turned to the kitchen counter and opened the drawer, looking over her shoulder questioningly.

"Tea."

He answered while he sat himself on a chair. She smiled and grabbed two bags of Earl Grey, before setting the water on to boil.

"Me too."

Their eyes locked for a short second, before Grace could rip her gaze away and quickly run up the stairs into the bathroom. She quickly showered to get the sweat off her skin and changed into a comfy sweatshirt and jeans. It had gotten cooler over the night, first signs of autumn were showing.

"I'm sorry that the place is so messy. I just moved back here and I kind of have to clean everything up."

She said as she rushed back into the kitchen. Elijah was flipping through a book while he held the cup of tea in his other hand. His fingers elegantly caressed the pages of the book and Grace's eyes fell on the small ring on his finger. It didn't look like a wedding ring, but it seemed to be ancient. Maybe a family heirloom. It kind of fitted him. He had this presence of a wise man, way ahead of his time.

"I don't want to cause any effort, Grace. You live here with your siblings?"

Grace seated herself next to him and drank her already cool tea. She always hated it when tea was too hot, she liked it very cooled off.

"Yes, I do. Our parents died in a car accident two years ago. I just became Jeremy and Elena's legal guardian, that's why I came back here."

Elijah's gaze lifted up from the book and bore into her eyes.

"How do you feel about it? It's a lot of responsibility to take."

There was a honesty in him that Grace cherished. He was the first one to ask her how she felt about everything and not mean it as an insult.

"To be honest I was beyond scared when I took it. But it strangely faded when I arrived here. Guess I kind of am growing into it."

Elijah nodded and looked at her with an unreadable expression. It gave her a tad bit of time to study his face. He must be in his middle to late thirties, his whole style was very formal, combining with his odd, but somehow sexy hairstyle he seemed to come from another time. His face looked like flawless, but still Grace had the feeling that he witnessed much. She was too shy and polite to ask him, she didn't even know if she would get to know him better above their work together.

He drank his tea up and stood up, Grace followed his motion quickly. Without any words said she knew that he wanted to grab the boxes and go on with his work. She lead him to the living room where she had put them and struggled to get the heavy box up. An amused smile was on his face when he came to a halt in front of her and took the box out of her arms. A true gentleman after all. Grace pulled up her brows in surprise when he, without any effort, lifted another box and carried them to his car. Wow, a lot of hidden power in this man.

It took him five minutes to get all the boxes into the car. Grace joined him outside and held the jacket he had left in the kitchen to him. He took it smiling charmingly at her and grace couldn't help but return it. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his hair fell onto his forehead, teasing Grace to stroke it out of his face.

There was this feeling of easiness between the two and Grace liked it. She never had had this with a man before, as her involvement with man usually consisted of serious, dramatic relationships or drunk one night stands. It even felt good that she didn't know if their mild flirting could lead somewhere.

"I could show you some of the major historical places tomorrow, if you like."

Elijah leaned against the car and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I would love to. We could look through the rest of the files afterwards. If you can spare the whole day for me, of course. But I have to admit that I can only invite you for lunch as reward."

He gave her another one of those charming smiles that made Grace immediately blush. She chuckled and handed him a paper with her phone number on it she had prepared while he loaded his car with the boxes. She felt warmth going through the tips of fingers when they shortly touched.

"You stay at the hotel, right? I'll pick you up around 11."

Elijah looked down to the paper in his hands before he opened the door of his car and got into it. "Thanks for your help, Grace." They smiled again at each other before he started his car and pulled onto the driveway. The smile was still plastered onto her face when she was back inside. She really was excited to spent the whole day on research mission.


	5. Chapter 5

An hour later Grace was in the school, attending Mr. Saltzman's consultation hour. She knocked at his door and opened when he called her to come in.

"Oh, hello, Grace. Nice to see you here."

Alaric lifted his gaze off his papers, smiled and motioned for Grace to sit down on one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"I just wanted to ask if there was anything I should know about my sibling's concerning school. To be honest I don't know who else I should ask, because all the other teachers don't take me serious, because they don't see me as an adult...and you know them better than anyone else, so..."

Grace shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't know Alaric all to well like Jeremy and Elena did and she already mused that something wasn't right.

"It's alright, it's good that you came. Elena's grades are fine and she's a lovely student, people say she always was."

The oldest Gilbert nodded smiling. A few years ago she hated that about her sister. She envied her popularity and that she got along with everyone, always being their parents' favorite. But know she was relieved that Elena didn't have any issues going on.

"But Jeremy on the other hand…"

Grace tensed when Alaric continued to speak. The instant she had looked at Jeremy she had known that he wasn't doing as good as Elena did. She really hoped it wasn't something too bad.  
"What is it, Mr. Saltzman."

Alaric sighed and looked down to his papers.

"Please call me Rick...um, Jeremy's grades are dropping. He's on the brink to dropping out. What is more that he was a...drug problem."

Her hands started to shiver, Grace was steaming. She kind of scared Alaric with her gaze that could kill an army.

"You know I tried to be there for him and I thought it got better. Maybe I should meet more often with him after school."

Grace shook her head to clear her mind so she could speak again. She was beyond mad.

"No, I mean, yes, you can do that, but I'll start my own measures."

Again Alaric sighed and scratched the back of his head. They were both really uncomfortable with each other, maybe it was because of Jenna, but Rick didn't really know how to handle the oldest Gilbert sister. She had those scary vibes that she covert really well, but know that she was angry...she wasn't a girl to be messed with.

"Don't be too hard on him. He went through a lot."

Shaking her head, Grace stood up, faking a smile.

"You don't understand. We're all still grieving, even after two years, but the thing is, over time the people tend to forget what happened. Right now they're still handling us with kids gloves, but at some point they'll stop. You know, when I went to university after their death, no one cared about sad little Grace Gilbert's fate. This was the best thing that could've happen to me, like that I couldn't rest not the excuse of my parents' death. We can't let being orphans define our future. I'll have to teach Jeremy that."

Alaric nodded, seeing Grace from a new perspective now. He admired her strength. Now he was convinced that this young woman didn't need help with anything.

After waving Alaric goodbye, Grace got out of the school and instantly went to the Grill. She knew she would find her siblings here. Without saying anything she stepped to Jeremy and grabbed his arm, pulling him with her.

"Grace! What are you doing?!"

Grace saw the confused glances Matt and Bonnie shot them. She clenched her fists and walked to the bar's counter.

"Don't play innocent on me, Jer. I just heard that me dear little brother is about to drop out of school, while he carefree smokes weed in his free time. I'll get you a job so you finally see what responsibility is."

Jeremy was suddenly very quiet. He gave her the innocent puppy eyes, but his older sister knew the act.

"Grace, I…"

"No, I won't let you ruin your future! You can keep the money you earn here, but once a week, until I believe that you got it into that thick skull of yours, I'll tutor you. No discussion, Jer."

He didn't dare replying anything and Grace nodded, satisfied with him not complaining anymore. Jeremy knew her too well than to be cheeky when Grace was in this kind of mood.

"Hey, Thomas, do you have a job for my little brother? He'll do everything you ask him to do."

Thomas, the owner of the Grill turned to Grace and grinned widely. He owed Grace one, because she had often done his homework in order to get him through school. Grace once had made out with him when she was drunk for the first time at a bonfire, she still was grossed out because of that.

"Of course, Gracie. Be here tomorrow at 6 pm."

The last words were directed toward Grace and she gave Thomas a thankful glance. That was one of the perks of living in a small town. No one could escape from any depts.

She let go of Jeremy's arm and he shot her an annoyed, but also kind of frightened look. He was right by being afraid. Grace could become raging when it comes to bad grades. She always had been a very good student and knew that there wasn't any need of wonders or magic to be at least doing well at school.

Grace sighed and sat down at one of the stools, lightly massaging her aching temples.

"Vodka, please."

She told Thomas and he poured her the drink smiling. Grace noticed that she hadn't drunk in quite some time. During exams there wasn't time to party and she had been occupied a lot since she was back in Mystic Falls.

"Wow, you're quite scary when you do the super-mom act."

A voice rang from beside her and Grace spared a look. Damon. The foolish, arrogant brother of Stefan, awesome.

"I'm just doing well at taking responsibility. Are you, too?"

After all, Grace was quite curious how it worked between the Salvatore brothers. Elena once told her that they lost their parents, too, but he seemed like Stefan wasn't getting along well with his older brother.

"Of course. Always watching the children while getting drunk."

Damon glanced over his shoulder and Grace followed his gaze. Stefan and Elena sat in a booth. They seemed to talk, but Stefan already held Elena's hand lovingly. Grace smiled, they seemed to have mad up their differences. She was glad that they did, Grace knew that Stefan was good for her sister.

She caught eye of the look Damon gave them. It was made of jealousy and anger, but only lasted for a second. But still Grace saw it. He was in love with Elena, he couldn't lie about that. Grace didn't know of she should be angry or vomit.

"To taking responsibility."

The oldest Gilbert lifted her little glass before drowning the drink. Damon's attention shifted back to her and he mimicked her movement.

"I like you, Grace. Maybe we should spent more time together."

Grace rolled her eyes while he wiggled his eyebrows. She waited for her refill and played with the tiny glass.

"Never gonna happen, Damon. Sorry."

Damon chuckled and moved closer to her with his stool. Grace immediately felt uncomfortable and shifted to the edge of her seat. She hated guys that couldn't take a hint.

"Oh come on. You're missing something. I'm not talking about a relationship here...you know, just having fun together."

She closed her eyes shortly to keep herself together, as she started to get annoyed. Grace was too decent to make a scene here, but he really was getting on her nerves. Drowning the next shot, she was getting ready for verbal attacks precisely low down.

"I'll tell you what, Damon. It grosses me out that you're trying to make my sister jealous by hooking up with me. Actually, it's disgusting to look at your brother's girl like that. So I warn you, if you again try to get near Elena or me, I won't be that nice."

Damon's eyes darkened, but Grace didn't avoid his raging look. She wasn't afraid of him and he definitely should back off.

He opened his mouth to threaten her, but another ice cold voice interrupted him before he could say anything.

"I think the lady told you to vanish."

Elijah's eyes bore into Damons. He looked intimidating, deadly calm. His hand lay inches from her back on the rest of her stool, marking his territory. He radiated off authority and so it didn't surprise Grace that he won the little fight. Damon murmured something insulting before he threw some bucks on the counter before disappearing. The gaze he threw them before leaving was deadly, but also a thad bit confused. He surely wondered about how these two knew each other.

"Thank you."

Grace took a deep breath, all those anger today had made her exhausted. She was also embarrassed by the fact that Elijah had to help her out of the situation. The young woman wanted to leave a good impression on him and now he had to save her from drunk fools. Grace wondered why he even did that. They didn't knew each other that well and when he looked at Damon he certainly made sure that Grace belonged to him.

"I really can't stand men that behave that disrespectful towards a beautiful lady."  
Elijah took the seat next to Grace. Incidentally Grace noticed that Elena and her friends were staring at her and Elijah. They seemed worried, but also seemed to throw Elijah hostile glances, which made Grace frown. But it was quickly put aside when she noticed that he had called her beautiful. She wasn't used to getting serious meant compliments. Usually only drunk fools complimented her for her nice ass.

"I'm sorry, you surely just wanted to have a nice calm evening. I don't want to ruin that."

Elijah smiled sweetly at her before he ordered himself Bourbon. That man had a good taste.

"The evening just got better, as I now have such delightful company."

It was strange. Grace believed every of his charming words. There wasn't any doubt that he meant his compliments seriously. He also surely hadn't had the intention to charm himself into her bed. Elijah simply was a true gentleman that seemed to like her.

"I don't know if I'm that delightful tonight. To be honest, I just want to drown my sorrows."

She chuckled and drank another Vodka. Grace was a good drinker, but she had to be careful. She didn't want to get drunk to the point where it really got awkward. Especially now with Elijah here, as she knew that she would meet him tomorrow.

"Do you want to share your sorrows with me?"

He even looked elegant when he drank alcohol. Wearing his neat suit, he sipped at the drink and looked at her curiously.

"Oh, just the usual family drama. My brother's teacher just told me that he's doing really bad at school and that he takes drugs and I kind of can't shake off the feeling of my sister hiding something from me."

Elijah smiled amused and Grace wondered if he also had a family that made him go mad. He surely looked like a family man, but she still really hoped that he hadn't had children on his own or something. That would be something Grace couldn't deal with.

"You're doing really good, Grace. Don't let anyone tell you anything else. The most important part in having a family is to care about them. It's a long time since I saw anyone care as much as you do."

His words meant so much for them and Grace finally started to believe them. She wasn't a failure and she would figure out how to do her best with her siblings.

"To family drama."

"To family drama."

Their glasses clung together and both of them chuckled. For the rest of the evening they just sat together and talked. Sometimes they also enjoyed the comfortable silence, but Elijah was doing really well in taking her mind off everything. They talked for hours about history projects she proofread and found similarities in their interests. Both were deeply interested in Vikings and the thesis that they settled in the New World way before Columbus did.

Elijah and Grace were the last guests in the Grill and Thomas had to throw them out. The young woman already was quite tipsy and had struggle to walk on her heels, but she wasn't way over the edge. She laughed when she had to stabilize herself on the wall.

"I think I should get home...wow, usually it's not a long walk but now it seems like a marathon."

Elijah chuckled and gently held her while she was taking her heels of. She was relived when she felt the cool stone of the street under her bare feet.

"Don't worry, I'll walk you home. You'll get there safely."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No, no, you don't have to. Please, your hotel is a totally different direction."

"I insist, Grace."

Grace rolled her eyes but smiled thankfully. It really was better to not go home in the dark, especially now with all those strange animal attacks around. They started to walk and Grace stumbled, but Elijah caught her before she could fall. Now it was getting embarrassing. He wrapped his arms around her waist so she could walk safely from now. The warmth radiating off him felt amazing in the cool air of the night.

"Why do you always were a suit? It must be very uncomfortable."

Her hand clawed into the jacket of his suit to stay close to him. Grace already could see the dim lights of her home. She really hoped her siblings wouldn't see her like that.

"Hm, I was raised to dress properly. But to be honest it helps me distance myself from some aspects of society I don't like."

That was a really deep answer. But even through her cloudy mind Grace noticed that there surely was more to it, but she didn't want to press the matter any further.

They reached the porch and Grace struggled to get out her keys out of her bag.

"Thank you so much, Elijah. It was a really nice evening."

He gently let go of her waist and positioned himself in front of her, ready to catch her if she would stumble again. Grace immediately missed his warmth.

"I enjoyed it very much, too. I really look forward to our meeting tomorrow."

Their eyes locked again and Elijah leaned down to her. Grace tensed a bit, expecting that he would kiss her. But it surely wasn't the right time for that. She still didn't relax, because instead he placed a light kiss on her cheek. It felt so meaningful and sweet, her knees nearly melted.

"Good night, Grace."

He stepped back and waited until she disappeared inside her house. Grace was more than confused and joyful when she stood inside. Her stomach fluttered and a foolish smile crept on her face when she thought about seeing him again tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh god I'm so late!"

Grace rushed into the kitchen, already late on her way to pick up Elijah. She had forgot to set the alarm after she fell into bed exhausted and with quite the headache. Fortunately the pain in her head wasn't too bad tonight.

"Where are you going?"

Her little sister stood there with a cup of coffee in her hand, looking at her sister's rushed manner confused.

"I'm showing Elijah around today. I don't think I'll be home early."

Elena's brows lifted in surprise, her hand clenched around the cup. There it was, this strange behavior whenever she mentioned Elijah. But before she could ask her sister about it, Grace was interrupted when someone she wasn't prepared to see walked in.

"John?!"

Her uncle casually stood next to Elena who looked down to the floor, avoiding Grace's questioning glance. She always loathed John, as everyone in the family did. Whenever Grace thought she was the black sheep of the family, John was there to proof her wrong.

"It's good to see you, Grace."

Grace looked at John angrily. He definitely wasn't welcome here. She would love to throw him out.

"What the hell are you doing here? Oh no, wait. You can go. You're not going to stay here."

A small smile tucked on John's lips and Grace stomach twisted in cause of last night's alcohol.

"I'm staying for a while. Elena let me in last night."

Grace shot her sister a death glare. What had she done? She remembered that Elena also couldn't stand John, why did she welcome him in suddenly?

"As I told you, you're not welcome here. If you don't understand what I'm implying, I told you to leave."

John shook his head and Grace couldn't believe it. He stood there like he was the master of the home, although he had done nothing but annoy the family.

"I don't think so. Elena, would you care to explain, or shall I?"

Both of the adults looked at Elena who still avoided her sisters eyes, which drove Grace mad. She hated all this secrecy.

"Grace...I completely forget to tell you and all...John is my biological father."

A world shattered right in front of Grace's feet. She hadn't yet known that Elena wasn't her biological sister. Because no one cared to tell her.

"You forgot?"

Her voice was calm in a dangerous way. She still had to take everything in. Grace couldn't believe that Elena, her honest little sister, had kept that from her. But somehow she wasn't surprised anymore.

"Grace, I..."

Elena started to step closer to her, her eyes begging for forgiveness. But Grace just lifted her hand to stop her.

"I'm outta here."

She shook her head still not really believing it and disappeared out of the house, slamming the door behind her shut.

Tears threatened to fall onto Grace's cheeks as she drove her car to the hotel. The anger had turned into sadness and feeling of betrayal. Had Elena really thought it would change anything for her if she wasn't her biological sibling? She was her sister and she would always be. It would never be a matter for Grace, but right now she was so disappointed that Elena hadn't told her, that she had to hear it after John forced her. Grace had thought that the siblings started to find trust in each other. But now they made a really big step back. She was relieved that she had a reason to leave, she would've gone crazy in that house.

"Grace?"

Elijah knocked on the window of her car and Grace flinched, quickly looking away so he wouldn't see that she was on the edge of crying. She unfortunately hadn't locked the door, so he opened it and without another word he sat down on the passenger seat.

"What's wrong?"

Grace closed her eyes for a second to calm herself. When she thought she was ready she turned to him and tried to smile.

"It's nothing, really."

Again Elijah saw right through her and still she couldn't read him. It made her nervous right now, but at the same time she wanted nothing more than to find comfort.

"You keep telling me that and I doubt I should believe that. Tell me."

His voice was soft, exactly what she needed. He would listen to him, even if it was pathetic to tell someone she barely knew all her family drama.

"Elijah, we don't really know each other…"

She still tried to resist, but his eyes simply didn't release her.

"Maybe that's why you should talk to me. I'm a neutral person and I'm told I'm a good listener."

He smiled which made Grace chuckle. Straightening the jacket of his suit he cocked his head, asking her to speak.

"My uncle just revealed that he's my sister's biological father. The thing is, Elena ceased to tell me first. I thought she trusted me and now she doesn't."

She tried hard to hold back the tears, it felt good to be not in control for one second. It built up her trust towards this man, but she was afraid that she was seeing things between them that weren't there.

"Trust is a tricky thing. It'll take a long time until you'll be able to trust her again, but believe me, you will. It's ok to be mad, Grace."

Grace looked up to him and his hand reached forward to wipe a tear away from her face. His thumb touched her soft skin and she felt this certain electricity between them. What he said made her feel better. It wasn't her fault. It was ok to be mad.

She turned back towards the stirring wheel and started the engine. The ride was silent, both of them wrapped up in the own thoughts. When they reached the old property Grace wanted to show him, they got out of the car and she grabbed her bag with some maps of the borders of old Mystic Falls. Immediately Elijah took the heavy bag from Grace to which she smiled at him thankfully. Never had she met someone that went through with the gentleman-thing like he did.

"Here's the old Fell property. From the records it says that it once was the most prestigious estate in town."

They walked the leaf-covered floor side by side. Nowadays there wasn't really anything. Just a large hole in the ground showed that there had been something some time ago.

"Ah, the Fells...one of the founding families."

His voice dripped of sarcasm and his gaze diverted to the trees while he played with a leaf in his hands. Grace looked at him curiously.

"Why do you say it like that?"

It seemed to be a habit of him that he moved his hands to stress his words. Grace was relived to see some kind of humanity between all the elegance.

"My research showed me that this area was settled almost two centuries earlier. There's a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, Salem to be precise."

Grace's eyes widened, her curiosity seriously triggered. It was surprising how much facts were changed throughout history.

"Salem? As in the witch trials?"

He nodded smiling and continued to walk.

"Which means the precious founding families actually didn't found anything."

The young women laughed slightly at his words in surprise. Elijah really did his research and for her this was incredibly interesting.

"I think you shouldn't mention this at a historical society meeting. They literally would rip your head off if someone tells them that their whole false pride is a lie."

Both of them chuckled and came to a halt.

"That's the good part about our work, Grace. Over the centuries all we know about history is brought to us by people that came from a higher class and had their own interests, as they were the only ones that could afford writing books. Especially in those times where these men 'found' this town, it wasn't unusual to spread lies throughout their writing. But what to expect from people that held slaves and only relied on the name they carried? To uncover those lies is something I dedicate myself to."

His eyes were so compelling when he spoke. He loved what he did, that was obvious and Grace joyful because of that. It was hard to find someone in this huge group of historians that drifted away from the usual approach and wrote about things that some people wouldn't like to hear. He reached forward and picked out a leaf that had entangled in her hair. But instead of letting his hand sink down, his thumb stroke her cheek. Grace closed her yes, feeling a tingling sensation in her stomach.

His touch suddenly disappeared and she opened her eyes again to see that Elijah looked at something in the distance. She followed his gaze and saw Alaric to which she frowned.

"Elijah, this is Alaric. He's a history teacher at the high school..."

Grace looked at the teacher confused. Why was he here? He hadn't shown any interest in the historical society so far, so she didn't expect him here.

"Yeah, Elena told me that you would walk Elijah here and I thought being a history buff and all I would tag along. Where to next?"  
Elena told him...how nice. Grace mused that she send Rick here to check on her after their argument. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty curious about the free slave property owners...some say the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history."

Grace nodded and looked between the men to her side.  
"The maps of those are still in my car. Just give me a sec."

She lightly touched Elijah's arm to excuse herself and took the bag out of his hand. He gave her a charming smile before she walked back to her car. Grace took a moment to process everything. Those moments with him...they were going to make her crazy. These little touches, the subtile flirting. She was deeply intrigued by Elijah, she had to admit.

After she got the map, she walked back to the point where they'd been standing, she was confused when she found Elijah alone.

"Where's Alaric?"

She lifted up a brow while she unfolded the map.

"He got an urgent call I think. Well, it's the two of us again."  
He smiled and stepped closer to her to have a look at the map. Grace started to shiver as the air got cooler as the afternoon moved on. Elijah noticed her being cold and instantly got out of his coat and placed it around her slim shoulders. Grace looked up to him surprised and there was it again, this sparkle in her dark eyes that Elijah had grown rather fond of.

"Thank you."

Grace clutched the coat closely around her and couldn't deny how awesomely it smelled. Freshly washed, with that manly note of after shave. The heavy, expansive fabric fell down to her knees and kept her comfortably warm.

"Maybe we should go back. It's getting late if we still want to have a look at the files."

He held out his arm for her and she smiled and interlaced their arms as he led her back to her car. Grace noticed that he took her mind off her quarrel with Elena for the whole afternoon. She wouldn't have thought of it if Alaric wouldn't have shown up.

Some minutes later they arrived at the hotel. She took a look around the room. It was more of an apartment as it was pretty huge. She didn't even know that small hotel had a room like this. Still it was cozy with a little chimney and vintage furniture. It was exactly what Grace had expected to be Elijah's style. Old fashioned, but with a decent style.

The boxes from her home stood on the couch table and Grace took place in front of them. She sunk deep into the cushions of the small sofa. Grace grabbed the first files and had a look at them. He seemed to have a particular interest in this witch burial ground he told her about earlier.

Some minutes later, Elijah joined her on the couch, holding two steaming cups of tea in his hands. Grace thanked him before she took the cup from him, enjoying the warmth the hot cup gave her hold hands.

"So you do proofreading of term papers?"

Grace struggled to get comfortable, still she was kind of tensed. She always was when she was in a someones home the first time, because she always had this feeling of being impolite or accidentally breaking something.

"Yes, I do. I had my first dissertation on my desk lately, not that anyone would know."

At university Grace was kind of famous for being a good proofreader. She wasn't too expensive and always put great effort in research and correctness.

"What topics are popular among students recently?"

Elijah asked curiously. He always wanted to be in the state-of-the-art. Having an inside into the students interests was very helpful.

"Sexuality and gender identity in history."

He lifted a brow and both of them started to chuckle.

"That's certainly new. And here I thought modern history would never loose its dust. But I wonder, isn't it more of a social studies' topic?"

Grace shifted a bit and finally allowed herself to place her feet on the cushion of the sofa. She pulled her knees to her chin and looked at Elijah.

"It surely has its historical relevance. Today people are open minded and talk a lot more about their sexuality and intimacy. But to be honest, isn't nearly everything about sex? I also think love has forged the greatest wars and changes in our history. Think about Henry VIII, he founded a whole new church that still is very large nowadays, because he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn."

He seemed to be fascinated by her words and he really looked like he thought about them. Their conversations were marked with respect, they always valued the other's opinion highly. That's something Grace hadn't known at university. Usually her teachers were arrogant and disrespected her opinion as useless.

"It's quite the romantic approach to muse that Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn out of love."

Elijah had an amused smirk on his face and Grace lightly slapped his leg playfully.  
"Why else would he have made the effort to stand up against the pope and create a whole new church? Maybe it was lust, but in this case, it doesn't matter. She manipulated him and Henry let his heart rule...or some regions deeper down."

Both of them chuckled again, but Grace felt the growing tension. Dirty history talk was kind of sexy. The conversation dropped and they both got files in their hands and started to read through them. Sometimes they told each other what they found, sometimes they just sat there in silence. After some time Grace couldn't find enough space on the sofa as the sorted through pile of files grew and she found free space on the floor. She grabbed herself a blanket and the papers and sat cross-legged on the floor, having enough space to spread the files around her. Elijah joined her shortly after. They talked more and more and when they came to a point where they together had a look at the most important files, they moved closer to each other. Their legs touched and Grace often leaned over to have a better look at the papers. He again started to gesture with his hands as they both got more and more intrigued with the topic...and with each other. It felt natural when his arm wrapped around her slim waist. It felt even more natural when suddenly there was silence and they looked each other deeply into the eyes. Right now Grace hated it that his expression didn't gave anything away about what he would do next.

But before she could find out, there was a knock on the door. They pulled apart and Grace looked down to the floor. She had lost control.

Elijah stood up and answered the door, before anyone could say something. His broad shoulders didn't allow her a glimpse at the man at the door. Their conversation was too quiet to listen in and Grace of course didn't want to.

"...Jonas, this is Grace Gilbert. She helps me with my research. Grace, this is Dr. Jonas Martin, an old acquaintance of mine."

He turned to the side so Grace could see the man approaching him. Dr. Martin was tall and had a friendly smile on his face. Grace smiled, too, stood up and shook his hand.

"Grace, I have to apologize. There are some urgent matters to be taken care of that need my undivided attention. Will I see you tomorrow at the historical societies' dinner?"

Grace nodded understandingly. She would've liked to stay longer, but she then noticed that it was already quite late. Time flew with him.

"Yes, I'm kind of organizing it. I hope it won't be a disaster. See you tomorrow, Elijah."

Smiling at her reassuringly, he took her hand and placed a kiss on it, like he always did when he was saying goodbye to her. It still took Grace completely off guard.

"I'm sure it will be lovely. Good night, Grace."

She grabbed her bag and walked out of the hotel room. While she went down the hall, she heard Dr. Martin speaking to Elijah.

"Have I interrupted something?"

Elijah didn't answer him.

Darkness surrounded her when Grace stepped out of the hotel. Her car wasn't far a away, but an eerie feeling got a hold of her. She tensed and walked faster when she heard voices behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a group of men staring at her. They came closer and Grace started to run. When she reached her car, they had surrounded her.

"Isn't that the Gilbert sister? She's making a good bait, isn't she?" 


	7. Chapter 7

Panic crept up inside Grace. What were they up to? She definitely was in serious danger and no one could hear her from her position. The men drew closer to her and her back pressed against her car. She was trapped. They could do everything they wanted to her.

But not without her giving in quietly. She was about the hit the guy closest to her in her face when all of a sudden someone appeared in front of her. His broad shoulders blocked her view, she could only see the those shoulders were in a suit jacket. Elijah. Relief flooded through her, but it was short termed. There were 6 men and Elijah was all on his own. He would get hurt, because of her. She wanted to stop him from doing something stupid, but her legs passed out so she had to steady herself on her car.

What happened next was like a blur. An unbearable high pitched tone rang in her ears. She heard her own fast, short breaths and her hear beating rapidly. Was that what a panic attack felt like? Grace couldn't really see what happened right in front of her, because she had to concentrate on breathing. But she lost control of herself and her small figure went lip against the car. Her vision turned fully black and she felt herself falling to the ground. Before she could feel the pain of hitting the street under her, she felt nothing at all.

In the morning Grace set up with a gasp. Sweat covered her forehead. She had to calm herself and look around to see that she was at home, in her bed, wrapped in her warm blankets. Save. For a moment what she experienced felt like a dream, but she was sure it had been reality. But she couldn't remember what had happened after Elijah arrived. Was he well? Grace grabbed her phone and was about to call him when she saw that a small paper was left on her nightstand. There were words on it, scribbled in an elegant handwriting. It took a while for Grace before she could even read them, she had to focus intensely as her mind was racing.

 _I'm truly sorry for this inconvenience._  
 _See you tonight,_  
 _\- Elijah_

Inconvenience?! That was the understatement of the year. They both could've gotten badly hurt, or even killed. Grace didn't want to imagine what a group of drunk bastards were able to do. Of course he wasn't hurt. Those attackers surely wouldn't have gotten her to her bed safely and unharmed. It was a relief that they both got of this well. Still Grace wondered he could've taken on those men all on his own.

More and more questions wandering around Elijah and her siblings plopped up in her mind and with every new question mark she got more and more confused. But right now she couldn't do much against it. The only thing she could do was get up, behave like a adult and be there for her siblings.

Then she remembered her argument with Elena. Grace gently stroked the handwriting on the paper and sighed. She still was beyond mad and she would show Elena the cold shoulder for a while, but deep inside her she could never be angry concerning her sister for long. Just then someone knocked on her door. Elena's head peeked through the door when Grace allowed her to come in. Her sisters expression was torn and she chewed her bottom lip, not knowing how to act towards Grace.

"What do you want?"

Grace rolled her eyes as she spoke and got out of the bed. Elena was back from her sleepover at Caroline's so it must be pretty late. She should hurry, she had a reception to prepare at the Lockwood estate.

The younger girl flinched and fiddled with her hands.

"I...I thought...Is it ok if I go to the lake house with Stefan for some days?"

She had her puppy eyes on. Grace looked at her for a moment. Tension rose as Elena got more and more nervous, something she really deserved. Then Grace just sighed and undressed to get to the shower.

"Yes, it may be better to get a break from each other, huh? Of course it's ok, I'm not a monster you need to be afraid of."

Elena just flashed her a bright smile before she stormed away. The older sister shook her head smiling. Her sister could be so cute when she was happy. A trait Grace always thought she got from her parents. Jeremy and Grace had been the glum ones in the family, while Elena was the bright little star of cheeriness, like Grayson and Miranda. Ironically, Elena, the one that seemed to be just like her parents, was adopted. But the character doesn't really lay in the genes, Elena's annoying good mood was shaped by the carefree way she grew up.

Grace also had a protected, good childhood, but in contrary to Elena she never was one of the popular girls. She had been bullied, the shame, the girl that always had been kind of different. It was ok now, but those were the things no one would ever forget. Scars that would never disappear. But it was over and that was a thing Grace clung to. She was a completely different person now.

The day went on quite fast as Grace was busy organizing the party of the historical society. She did the best she could and wanted everything to be perfect to impress Carol and those old ladies...and of course Elijah. He would be there tonight, too. They should all see that she really was capable of taking over responsibility. The society was her baby now and she would rock it.  
She looked at her finished work and nodded proudly. Everything was set, she just had to change herself. Carol and her son hadn't been in their home for the whole day so she could do everything the way she wanted it to.

Rushing upstairs, Grace grabbed her belongings and got into her small dress and did her make up. When she finished, she heard mumbling from downstairs. The first guests had arrived. She was a bit nervous, but knew how to get it under control. The smile sat perfectly on her flawless face when she walked down the stairs.

Grace shook hands with everyone. She knew everyone here. They all seemed to be impressed by the look of the house. Being pleased by that she smiled even wider. Waitresses walked among the guests and gave them champagne and snacks. Not too tight up, not too casual.

"A wise men once said 'A ladies' most beautiful accessory is her smile'. I now see sense in it."  
Elijah's deep voice turned up next to Grace. He took her hand, but neither kissed it nor shook it. His thumb just caressed her knuckles and Grace enjoyed the warmth of his hands.

"To you say that to every women smiling in your presence?"

Grace chuckled, teasing them. None of them bothered parting their hands.

"Caught me."

Their chuckles turned into a little amused laugh and Grace was happy that that ease between them wasn't lost since yesterday.

"Um...how did you make those guys go away yesterday? I'm very thankful by the way."

Elijah's expression turned unreadable. Again Grace had this feeling that he was hiding something. Like everyone else. She also still couldn't explain this aura of mystery and power he radiated off. The look he had on his face yesterday...He wasn't overly tall or looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his best years, but there was this presence of him...it made people respect him immediately. But the way he looked at those men. He seemed deadly. Like a predator.

"I think they realized that they were too drunk. I explained to them that you're protected by me and they vanished."

Grace nodded, but not satisfied with his answer. When she saw those men...she saw pure darkness in them. They weren't that drunk. The moment they came closer they new that they would hurt her. They would've gone through a lot more than one man protecting her.

"So we were lucky."

She didn't want him to think she was crazy, so she played by it. The oldest Gilbert would find out on her own.

"You seem to find that strange."

He tilted his head and looked at her intensely. Again he was seeing through her, it was terrifying how good he got to know her in that short time.

"No, I'm just not used to someone saving me. Usually it's my sister all knights in shining amor ran to for rescue. It's never me. So I have to look out for myself."

Elijah nodded deep in thought. Grace lost herself in his chocolate colored depths. Her lips parted slightly and she completely focused on him. For now, it was just him and her.

"I intend to change that."

His voice was soft and a tingling feeling started in Grace's stomach. Oh no. This wasn't good. She couldn't fall for him. Not now.

Before she could open her mouth and say something stupid, Carol luckily rushed to their side and broke the moment. Elijah had a charming smile on when he shook her head. Grace couldn't really concentrate on what the mayor was chatting about. She had to recover from this and she did quickly. Straightening her posture, she took a deep breath and also smiled. Grace spared a short glance to Elijah who did the same. Their hands were now parted but both of them remembered how it felt to hold each other's hands.

"Damon! What a surprise!"

Carol suddenly chirped and Grace immediately rolled her eyes. He was the last one she needed here. Of course she had to invite him, because he carried the name of a founder, but still she had hoped he wouldn't come.

Damon kissed Carol on the cheek and smirked, while turning towards Grace and Elijah.

"Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of the founding families."

Grace bit her lip to surpress an amused sound, as she remembered what Elijah had told her about the 'founders'. It was their little inside joke.

The tension grew as the men stared at each other. Elijah wasn't smiling anymore and neither was Damon. Their little incident at the Grill was likely what caused the tension, or was there more, Grace wondered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Damon said in fake cheeriness. It seemed more to provoke Elijah, but he remained deadly calm.

"The pleasure is mine." They shook hands and still stared at each other. Grace was afraid that they would break their hands in this handshake and she slightly coughed to ease the tension.

"Grace, your effort in organizing this meeting really pays off. Everyone seems to feel inspired by the atmosphere you created here. What do you think, should we tell Mr. Salvatore what we found out in our research?"

Damon's expression turned bewildered and he frowned, looking Grace up and down suspiciously. The younger woman chuckled and played along in this game. She couldn't really stand Damon. Luckily Carol had already walked off.

"No, I don't think his ego can handle it."

But Damon didn't really seemed to be interest in their teasing and ignored Grace's words completely.

"What do you mean by 'our' research?"

Elijah grinned and again looked directly into Damon's eyes.

"Oh, Grace and I share a common interest. We spent a lot of time together, doing research. She's of really great help to complete my newest books on the founding history of Virginia's small towns."

He spoke cooly and Damons lips turned into a thin line. Why did he bother about the fact that Elijah and Grace spend time together? More and more questions were in Grace's mind and she grew annoyed by that.

"What he wants to tell you Damon is, that we found out that the founding families aren't the real founders of Mystic Falls. There are a lot of gaps in the records and it's likely that people from Salem came here centuries ago."

Grace said and noticed that at least Elijah was spending attention to her words.

"How interesting. At least it'll change nothing at all."  
Damon's voice was filled with anger and he left them standing. Grace only lifted an eyebrow.

"Like I said. Not good for his ego."

Elijah smiled amused and pushed it away with a movement of his hand before he turned back to Grace.

"I meant what I said before. You did very good with this meeting. It's good for your town to have you back, such an enthusiastic young woman, eager to make history interesting again."  
What he said meant so much for Grace. It was so good to hear someone praising his words, because it gave her a lot of self confidence.

"Thank you."

He smiled down to her, but then turned to look over his shoulder as if he heard something.

"Excuse me."

The historian lightly touched her shoulder before he went to the back part of her mansion, which reminded Grace that she had other things to be taken care of.


	8. Chapter 8

Grace didn't see Elijah again for the night. She saw him disappearing with Damon somewhere, but none of them was to be seen again after that. The young woman hoped that they didn't got into any kind of quarrel on her party.

She tried do get her mind of her little disappointment and admired her work. Everyone told her who awesome the evening was and Carol even told her that she was very happy to see the historical society back to it's charm.

Late in the evening, after every guest had left, she went home herself and directly fell into her bed exhausted. It was good, like that she didn't overthink that thing with Elijah too much. He had seemed like he avoided her, maybe their flirting had gotten too much for him. Maybe he wasn't interested in her after all. Grace tried hard to not let it hurt her and forced herself to sleep, which worked perfectly after this eventful day.

In the morning, Grace enjoyed the thought of being alone in the house when she woke up. Elena was still with Stefan in the lake house and Jeremy probably was out with his friends and would later one work in the Grill.

But she completely forgot about John. She was in quite the good mood as she walked down to the kitchen. Successfully she had pushed yesterday's thoughts away. John ruined her mood immediately. She rolled her eyes and was about to turn around and leave when she saw her, but she decided to handle it like an adult and face him. It was her home after all.

"Good morning, Grace."

He poured himself a cup of coffee. Instead of asking her if she wanted a coffee, too, he just sat down. What a gentleman.

"Good morning, John."

Grace faked a smile before she fixed herself a cup with a lot of milk in it. She never really had liked the bitter flavor of coffee.

"Where's Elena? I haven't seen her this morning."

John looked up to her and Grace jumped onto the kitchen counter and grabbed a newspaper, quickly skimming the headlines.

"She's with Stefan at the lake house."

She didn't lift her glance as she answered as she read the article about the newest animal attacks with a frown. What kind of animal did this? And since when did people die in Mystic Falls, except for car accidents and old age?

"Who allowed her that?"

John's voice was harsh which made Grace look up. She lifted a brow at him as he peaked her temper, but she tried to hold it back.

"I did. As legal guardian I can."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest sassily.

"Oh, I think not for long anymore, Grace. But what do I wonder? You've always been the black sheep of the family. No one can expect you do change into someone with a sense of responsibility."

Her hands clenched into fists as she tried to control her facial expression. The little twitching of her upper lip was the only thing that gave away that she was about to explode.

Grace got up from the kitchen counter and walked slowly to John who had stood up, too. She eyed him like prey, which made her sweet face look quite scary.

"Dearest John, if my memory serves me right, I remember you being even more in the darker shade of the families' blacklist. But the funny thing is, you don't have any power over me, being Elena's father or not. Right now I'm the rightful owner of this house, because I'm the keeper of Elena's and Jeremy's fortune until they're eighteen. That means, you can't do anything to me. But I can call the police and tell that you're trespassing whenever I want. Who's in charge here now?"

John just looked at her speechless and didn't say anything else, which was good for him. This was her last warning towards him. She knew that he would try to get the legal guardianship for Elena, but he never could get Jeremy's which likely would mean that the court would decide in Grace's favor.

She flashed him a feisty smirk before she grabbed her bag and went out of the house. To be honest she had no idea where she should go, but she had her great exit which satisfied her. She won this time.

But the releasing of her anger came down on her and made her shiver suddenly. It wasn't unusual for her. She couldn't be that tough for a long time. Luckily it happened now that she was alone.  
Grace hadn't come far when she bumped into a hard, muscular chest. But before she could fall backwards, she was grabbed by her shoulders and steadied.

"Hello, Grace."

Elijah's voice spoke as he looked down to her with a lifted brow. Grace wanted to disappear into nothingness. She was deeply embarrassed because she hadn't been looking where she was going.

Distracting from her flushed cheeks, she looked away and stroked her long hair out of her face. Elijah's expression turned into worry as he studied her face.

"Are you alright?"

He let his hands slide off her shoulders to his side. Grace immediately shivered again as she missed his touched. She surely was too confused to deal with their tension this morning.

"No...I mean, yes, I'm alright. It's just an annoying uncle who wants to fight over legal guardianship with me. But it doesn't matter. Why have you come here?"

They walked alongside each other on the sidewalk, away from the house, directed towards the town's center.

"I just wanted to apologize for my sudden exit yesterday. We weren't finished with our conversation, but I...didn't feel that well."

Grace nodded, knowing that wasn't the full truth. But it wasn't her business.

"No apology needed. I was quite busy myself. Do you want me to show you anything else today? I have an idea where the witch burial ground could be located."

Elijah seemed to relax a bit and smiled.

"I've heard it'll be rainy today, so maybe we should stay inside for today. Are your siblings at home?"

"Elena's at our lake house with her boyfriend and my brother is somewhere with his friends. There's just my annoying uncle that keeps me away from home."

Grace chuckled to which Elijah joined. She was very happy that there wasn't strange behavior between them, even if there was quite some undone talk to do.

"Well, then I would love to invite you over to the Grill, if you like to."

Nodding happily, she continued to walk next to him. They were close to each other, sometimes their fingers touched when they moved and Grace nearly urged to take Elijah's hand. His touch was promising so much comfort and she could see in Elijah's eyes that he was also interested. But he was old school, that kind of initiative would come from him.

It started to pour rain just before they arrived at the Grill and they started to run laughing. Elijah held his coat up to try and protect Grace's and his face from the rain. Politely he opened the restaurants' door for her. Grace smiled widely at him and it seemed to take him off guard for a second. But he quickly composed himself and led her in, his hand hovering over her back. They were immediately met by Damon's light blue eyes when they took their coats off. His girlfriend Andy and Ric sat beside him as the raven haired man waved them over to their table. Grace and Elijah exchanged a quick glance before they joined the group.

"You two are back onto the historical mission, aren't you?"

Damon said with a big, fake smile on his handsome face. Again Grace asked herself what this sly guy's deal was.

"I suppose we are."

She said politely and gave Andy a smile. Last night the news reporter and her had loosely befriended after a long, good conversation. Grace just felt a bit bad for her, because it was obvious how much she fancied Damon and how much Damon didn't in return.

"As much as I'd love to continue this, I have papers to grade."

Alaric threw some bills on the table and Grace was already relieved that the conversation was short cut, but Andy interrupted.

"Oh no, we should continue this. Maybe over dinner tonight?"

Damon turned to her and continued to speak to the woman like to a child.

"Uh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host."

He wiggled with his fingers. Grace just lifted an eyebrow and looked at Elijah quite apologizing. They wouldn't get out of this.

"I'm free tonight."

She sighed.

"Would be a pleasure."

Elijah shrugged and smiled. Alaric also accepted. Grace didn't really know what to think about this idea, but what did she had to loose? She always had been quite curious in the Salvatore estate and everything was better than another lonely night in front of the TV.

Together with Alaric, Grace arrived at the Salvatore estate early. They volunteered to prepare the food and as Grace wasn't the badest cook, she took matters into her hands. She carefully prepared the main dish which was one of her favorite pasta with chicken recipe while Alaric chopped vegetables for a salad.

"You and Elijah seem pretty close."

Grace rolled her eyes. The second person who asked her about her personal life today. She sighed an walked around, her chicken was already in the oven.

"We work together, yes. And yes, he's a very nice man."

She examined the fascinating old trinkets that were scattered around the boarding house. It peaked Grace's interest. The house was huge and filled with artifacts from way some time back.

Alaric seemed to get the hint that she didn't want to deepen the topic and kept his mouth shut. Damon strolled in with Andy. The woman got the silverware and walked to the dining room with it.

"That looks delicious, Gracie. Were did you learn that?"

Calmly Grace got some wine glasses and helped Andy to set the table. Damon followed her, not seeming to have anything to do which annoyed Grace.

"You learn quite some things when you live alone, Damon. Would you make yourself useful and get a good red wine?"

She made it clear that she didn't want him near her. He disappeared with Alaric and Grace sighed in relief.

"You don't like him, do you?"

Andy asked, not looking up from the tablecloth.

"I don't know, he's not the baddest person I met. It's just that I don't like it when men put on the tough, all-macho act. Even though it's clear that it's just a mask."

Grace said thoughtfully while Andy shrugged and adjusted her scarf. It was kind of strange, because it was very warm inside the house.

"I try to see through that."

Looking up, Grace gave her a sympathetic look. She was so cute and passionate. Damon really didn't deserve her.

"Good luck with that."

Right at that moment, it knocked at the door and Grace rushed to open it. When she saw John, she just rolled her eyes disgusted and left the matter to a approaching Damon.  
She avoided her uncle and waited inside the kitchen when she suddenly heard Elijah's voice from beside her.

"Grace, how nice to see you again! You look incredible."

He whispered the last words and leaned down to kiss her cheek, which Grace mimicked. She smiled widely.

"Thank you. You do quite well yourself."

Teasing, she winked at him and disappeared back into the kitchen. Grace was in a good mood this evening at wouldn't let that get ruined by John. She would simply ignore him for as much as possible.

Grace got the pot with the steaming chicken out of the oven and carried it to the counter.

"Can I help you with anything?"

His voice was so close to her ear all of a sudden, Grace flinched and touched the burning hot pot to which she shrieked and let it fall out of reflex.

She already could imagine all the carefully prepared food spreading over the floor, when hands shot in front of her with an unbelievable speed and caught the pot only to set it on the counter.

"Oh my god! Thank you! You...you must be burnt, the pot was steaming!"

Grace stuttered, being overly confused. It all went by so fast. Another silly reflex got the best of her and she grabbed Elijah's hands. She examined them. They should've been awfully red and hurt, like her thumb with which she touched the steel of the pot. But they were flawless as always and she frowned.

Elijah chuckled and let her hold his hands.

"It wasn't that hot."

He lightly withdrew her hands, but Grace suddenly looked into his eyes intensely.

"It was."  
She whispered, but couldn't follow the thought, because Andy peaked inside and asked if they were ready with the food.

Elijah handed her a pile of plates before he left the kitchen without another word. Grace tried to clear her mind by arranging the food as appetizing as possible, while Andy filled the salad into little bowls. Both women carried the food inside and placed it in front of the others before taking a seat themselves.

Grace poured some of the very old and expensive looking wine into her glass and enjoyed a sip of it. It tasted wonderful and prepared her sensitive senses for the food. The wine perfectly matched the meal. Damon had a good taste, she had to admit.

"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."

She smiled while tried the salad and looked at Damon.

"Hmm, do tell."

He clearly faked is interest.

"Well, as I mentioned to Grace earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690' the next hundred years they created a this community where they could feel safe from persecution."

Grace leaned a it forward to closely listen to what he said in an interested manner. The witch trials were also a topic where she invested quite some time with at university, especially with their connection to emancipation.

"It was told they were witches."

Now it was Elijah who tasted the wine and they locked gazes, for a moment it felt like they were alone, back with only them and their historical work.

"There's no tangible proof that there were witches in Salem."

Luckily Andy broke the tension and they both looked back at their plates.

"Well the lore says, that an anti-witch hysteria broke out in the neighboring settlements. So these witches were rounded up and tied to stakes in the field and, uh, burned."

While speaking he motioned with his hands to stress the point. He said it in a nearly cold way, he seemed to keep his distance concerning this topic. It was essential for historians to not judge such events, even if it would be common sense nowadays.

"Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us as they were consumed by the fire...could you pass that?"

He said after a pause with a slight smile.

"It's starting to sound like a little ghost story to me."

John said with disrespect clear in his voice. Grace was starting to get even more angry at her uncle, but Elijah just shrugged completely unaffected.

"So why do you want to know about the place where the massacres happened?"

Damon asked and motioned with his fork.

"Ah, you know...just the historian's curiosity I guess."

He grinned at Grace while he said that and continued to eat. The dinner went on uneventfully with just some pleasantries that praised the food Grace cooked. Again Andy and her cleaned the table after everyone was finished.

"Does anyone care for some Cognac? I've got a bottle I've been saving for ages."

Damon stood up and smirked knowingly.

"I'd love to."

Grace said and chuckled while everyone got up from their seats. But then Andy exchanged a glance with Damon and she spoke up.

"The...um...gentlemen should take their drinks in the study."

To that Grace just lifted an eyebrow. How sexist. But she didn't say anything against it and just left it be.

"I have to say the food was almost as good as the company."

Again he looked directly at Grace and gently touched her back as he walked past her. Blushing, she disappeared into the kitchen to start doing the dishes when she noticed Alaric nervously fiddling next to her.

"Is everything alright?"

She smiled at the teacher and tilted her head. Alaric had been really nice to her since she was here, she appreciated it. Still, she had the feeling that he was feeling uncomfortable with her because of Jenna.

"Yeah, yeah...it's just...Oh, we forgot about desert!"

A little strangely he slapped his head to which Grace frowned.

"Um, yes...I bought some instant pudding, I could fix it quickly. Let's tell the other's, shall we?"

Alaric nodded, still seeming nervous and rushed out of the kitchen. Grace followed after him as he stumbled into the living room. Maybe he was just a light weight concerning wine and slightly tipsy.

"Gentlemen...we forgot about desert!"

Damon shot him an annoyed look, but both went back to the living room, while Grace waited for Elijah. She grinned as she reached her hand out for him, but instead of simply taking it, he twirled her around elegantly, but suddenly, this tension was back.

In a matter of seconds, she was pressed against the wall, Elijah closely in front of her, looking down to her. The swelling of her breasts touched his chest whenever she took a shaking breath. They stared into each other's eyes intensely.

Elijah's hand cupped her cheek and Grace closed her eyes, leaning into his touch.

"We should talk about this."

She whispered. Silence erupted for long seconds.

"We should."

Then, all of a sudden, Elijah's touch was gone. When Grace opened her eyes, he had stepped back from her and looked at her with a torn expression. Torn between wanting her and restraint. The latter won and he went back to the dining room.

Grace needed a moment to get herself back together, but finally could convince herself to go back into the kitchen and make the pudding. She was alone with her thoughts in the kitchen. Miserably failing, she tried to concentrate on the pudding, but ruined it completely.

The young woman wanted to go into the dining room and apologize for her failure with the alternative of ice cream, but when she entered the room, everyone was gone.

She frowned and looked around confused. The party seemed to have went somewhere else without her, which pretty much hurt her feelings. At least she didn't have to apologize for the pudding. 


	9. Chapter 9

With a disappointed look on her face, Grace grabbed her bag and got out of the estate. Should Damon tend to the mess in the kitchen if they simply left her alone without asking her to come. It already had gotten dark and it got colder and colder. Grace shivered and rubbed her arms to warm herself. Her steps quickened as she wanted nothing more than to get home and into her cozy warm bed after taking a hot shower.

But then the lurking feeling of being watched consumed her. She stopped and looked around but saw only the dark woods across the street. Immediately she remembered all those animal attacks and quickly turned around only to be stopped by Elijah, who suddenly had appeared on the street in front of her.

She didn't know why, but she all of a sudden felt frightened by his sight. Never had she felt like that in his presence. But the way he looked down to her had changed. His dark eyes were cold, filled with rage that was on the surface, ready to break through. Grace surely didn't want to be close when that happened.

"Elijah...what are you doing here?"

Taking a step back, she uncomfortably looked around. Yes, why was he here? They all had vanished from the dinner party and Grace had thought he was with the others.

"I'm so sorry, Grace. Never had I thought...I never wanted to get you involved in this."

For a short while his chocolate depths seemed to melt, but unfortunately not for long. Grace felt fear creeping up her spine and she took more and more steps back, her instincts driving her. But Elijah didn't let her out of his gaze and followed her.

"W...What do you mean?"

She was all alone with him here. No house was in sight as the Salvatore estate was located a bit farther away from the town. No one would hear her scream. To be honest screaming was the last thing she thought about right now. She was so confused. Grace had learn to trust Elijah and now he seemed like a completely different person.

"You have to come with me, Grace."

He held his hand out to her and Grace stopped walking and looked at the hand he offered her. She realized the seriousness of the situation. Elijah was trying to kidnap her.

"No."

Now it was her voice that was cold. Bravely, she looked directly into his eyes. She wouldn't show him her fear.

"Grace, please. I don't want to do this. But it's necessary."

It was a grotesque scene. The man she had a deep crush on stood in front of her, all in his business suit, looking damn attractive as ever, trying to convince to go freely into the probably violent unknown.

Grace shook her head and did the only thing she could to right now. She ran. All the sport she'd been doing helped with her getting quite fast, but he was faster. Within a split second he appeared in front of her. It was inhumanly fast.

"I'm sorry."

He grabbed her upper arm and pulled with her. Fear was about to consume her, she feared for her life and she couldn't believe how dumb she was to trust Elijah Smith.

They drove through the night silently. He hadn't hurt her, but forced her into his car. Grace stared out of the window, trying to concentrate on a way to escape from this.

"Where are we going?"

It was the first thing she said since Elijah had grabbed her. He didn't spare a glance and stared on the road.

"To find your sister. She's in your families' lake house if I remember right."

Grace shook her head, tears crept up to her eyes. She told him where Elena had went today. It was all her fault.

"What has she gotten herself into?"

She tried to hold back the sobs. Hearing her pain, Elijah looked at her. His hand hovered over hers, but he decided it was inappropriate to touch her.

"Grace, I...it's not your fault. I have no choice. They didn't leave me a choice."

Her hands clenched into fists. She felt her nails digging into her flesh. He actually sounded like he really pitied the situation. It was nearly funny.

"I asked you what is going on here!"

All of a sudden, she hissed at him as an answer. She couldn't hold it back anymore. Loosing control always had been something she hated.

Elijah stayed silent for a second. It was his time to find humor in the situation. He would've hurt or even killed every person who spoke to him like that immediately. But not her. She was special. He would never touch her that way.

"No one around you is who you think they are. Not even your sister. Not me. I'm one of the monsters that was lurking in the shadows of your nightmares. A creature that people tell tales about to scare their children. I'm a vampire, Grace."

Again Grace reacted completely dysfunctional. She broke into hysterical laughter which turned into sobs by the time. Grace felt her mascara burning in her eyes and smearing dark shadows under them.

She couldn't believe what he said. He must be crazy. Mental. Completely off the rails. Ill. But he then told her the whole story about her sister being a doppelgänger, of the Salvatores being vampires, too. Of Original vampires and a sun and a moon curse that was actually a hybrid curse that his lunatic brother wanted to break. Bonnie being a witch. Tyler Lockwood being a werewolf. Alaric and John being vampire hunters.

It was all too much for Grace, but in a strange way it made sense. All the secrecy her siblings and their friends kept right in front of her nose had a reason. It was real. She wasn't crazy.

"That means I'm leverage so you'll get to my sister?"

She pulled her legs onto the seat and hugged her knees close to her to get warmer, not caring if she ruined the expensive car's seats. An eerie coldness had gotten to her. Elijah immediately reacted and turned the heat of the air conditioning up.

"Her friends tried to kill me at the dinner party. That's why everyone left. They just did it the wrong way. You know, I'm one of the first vampires to ever exist. I'm quite more resilient than them."

He still motioned with his hand when he talked. He was still the charming man she got to know. But now he spoke of vampires and other supernatural creatures and he was kidnapping her to get revenge.

"Why don't you kill me? It would be a fitting message."

She said with a calm voice. It may sound crazy, but it was what she would do in his position. Elijah's head shot around and his dark eyes bore into hers. She returned the gaze tiredly.

"I would never hurt you, Grace."

He peaked her interest with that and a new spark flamed in her eyes. Hope. Hope that she would get out of this alive. But also curiosity.

"Then I'm a really bad leverage."

Her forehead sunk back onto her arms. She stopped thinking about ways to get out of this. Never could she fight him. He was undead, god knows what could stop him.

"The point is, they don't know that I wouldn't hurt you. They think I'm just using you to get what I want."

Grace closed her eyes.

"Aren't you doing that right now?"

Long silence erupted and Grace waited for his answer. This question wasn't meant rhetorical. But she gave him time to think.

After seconds that felt like forever Elijah sighed and finally spoke.

"No."

This little word changed a lot of things. Things that Grace thought much about the past few days. But before she could say anything else, he stopped the car in the middle of a wood. Grace knew this place. It was close to the lake house. She was quite happy that she didn't have to say anything else, it was getting too complicated.

Elijah got of the car and opened her door before she could get out. Again he held out his hand for her, but she ignored it. He knew that she wouldn't try to flee. She was smarter than that.

"Listen, Grace, I won't hurt you, nor your sister. We'll get her out of this, away from the danger the Salvatores are causing. I tried to let her live her life, but she and her friends couldn't stick to a rules. But she'll have you if you want to come with us."

Grace looked at him speechless. Was he serious? She snorted and shook her head unbelievingly.

"So you can sacrifice her on a bloody altar? No, thanks. Right now I can't to anything, but believe me Elijah, I will find a way to stop you."

She said her words calm and slowly, right in her face. But deep inside her she was surprised by her bravery. When it came to her family, she wasn't a coward.

"I found a way to spare her life in the ritual, without getting her turned into a vampire. Please, Grace, I need you to trust me. I know I don't deserve it and for that I'm deeply ashamed, but…"

Grace lifted her hand to stop him from talking.  
"...you have no choice. I will not trust you, but I'll shut my mouth for as long as I see it possible and won't intervene."

Without waiting for his response, she walked ahead, knowing exactly where she had to go. Elijah seemed satisfied with her answer as she heard him following her.

They reached the driveway of the lake house shortly after. The house was dimly lit, a red old-timer stood in front of it. They were here.

Grace stood back and watched Elijah. He was focused, like he was trying to listen to something. Bending down, he grabbed a handful of small stones from the path. When he stood back up, he played with the stones in his hand and Grace asked herself what she was planning to do.

All of a sudden, he threw the stones against the wooden door and it shattered to pieces. Grace's eyes went wide in shock, how could he be so strong? She never would stand a chance against him.

"You know, I might not be able to enter this house...but I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out."

He raised his voice. Grace remembered something from ancient occultism. Tales, that told that creatures of the night couldn't enter a home without getting invited in. Which meant he couldn't get into the lake house...but their home in Mystic Falls was a whole different story. She herself invited him in.

Elena stepped in front of Elijah, but stayed safely behind the doorframe. Her doe eyes fell onto Elijah, but they widened when she saw Grace, who stepped closer when she saw her little sister, but was stopped by Elijah's arm stretching out in front of her.

"No, no, let her go! She hasn't done anything to you! I know they shouldn't have done what they did, but she doesn't know anything."

The younger Gilbert started to panic. Elijah grabbed Grace by her wrist and pulled her close to him. It must've looked horrifying to Elena, but Grace wasn't afraid anymore. Deep inside her, she trusted Elijah to not hurt her.

"Oh no, she does know now. The deal is off."

Elena's eyes shifted to Grace who gave her a death glare. When this was all over, she would leave. She couldn't trust her own sister anymore. But she needed her older sister for her protection so this was a matter she had to think about. What was sure is that she was beyond mad and disappointed in Elena. Never had she thought that she would keep something like that from her. Grace could've helped.

"I'm renegotiating."

She saw that Elena pushed the guilt washing over her away for now and tried to stay strong.

"You have nothing left to negotiate with."

Grace noticed that his grip wasn't bruising her. He kept his promise, he wouldn't hurt her. But his voice told a different story.

Elena ripped her older sister out of her thoughts when she shocked her by pulling a sharp knife out. Her face didn't show any sign of fear. She was so brave.

"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelgänger bleeds to death."

Elijah didn't seemed to be impressed. He just rolled his eyes, thinking she was bluffing.

"Stefan won't let you die."

He said confidently.

"No he won't. He'll feed me his blood to heal me and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire just like Katherine did."

It was a point where Grace didn't understood anything at all and just concentrated on Elijah's reactions. This affected him, but he still played it cool, making sure that he was in control of the situation. He surely was someone not to be messed with while negotiating. Grace feared that Elena underestimated him.

"Promise me that you won't harm anyone I love. Even if they've harmed you."

To be completely honest, she could understand Elijah's reasons. She saw the hole smeared with blood in his usually neat suit. He had been offering a deal to protect Elena and they were trying to kill him. Couldn't they use their heads for a second? With that stupid move, they lost a powerful ally. Even Grace figured that out, even if she didn't understand half of it.

Elijah's fingers squeezed Grace's wrist but not in a hurting way. It showed her that he was actually struggling, like something inside him seemed for assistance from her. Over the past weeks they had worked perfectly together, Grace felt this connection, too.

But the pokerface was quickly back on his face and he looked at Elena unaffected.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff."

This was a dangerous game from both sides and both of them knew this exactly. A game with high stakes at a high price. Elena risked everything. She took a deep breath in and stabbed herself with the knife.

Elijah and Grace jumped forward, Elijah being stopped by and invisible wall. Grace tried to grab her sister, but she pushed her away hard and she stumbled back.

„NO!"

The Original and the girl screamed in unison.

"Yes, yes you can have your deal! Let me heal you."

Elijah said desperately.

"Give me your word!"

Elena groaned and Grace tried to reach her again, but she was pulled back by Stefan who she tried to fight. But he was also too strong.

"Elena!"

She yelled with tears in her eyes, afraid for her sisters life, not knowing that she easily could be healed.

"I give you my word."

With that Elena stumbled forward and into Elijah's arms. But then everything happened too fast for Grace to understand. Suddenly, Elijah groaned in pain and his skin turned grey before he fell backwards. Stefan rushed to Elena and bit into his wrist and offered her her blood.

Grace stood there frozen, the shock taking over her. She couldn't hear anything. After a while, she took one step after another and broke down on the porch. But not next to her sister. She fell to her knees beside Elijah. Her hands touched the black veins that covered his face's skin. He was dead. He looked so dead.

She didn't knew why that made her break down. Tears flooded her cheeks and she looked down to him in horror. Elena yelled her name, but she didn't really notice it.

Shortly after she was grabbed by two strong hands that pulled her up. Grace tried to get free, but his grip was like iron.

"Grace. Gracie. Calm down."

Damon's eyes bore into hers and she felt her body doing something strange, something she didn't want to. She relaxed.

"You will forget everything that happened after the dinner party. We had a nice evening and you went home. You drank a little bit too much and immediately went to bed. You'll just remember that Elijah left town after the dinner."

Grace's eyes fell shut and she went limb in Damon's arms. No one was sure if she was unconscious or if it was the compulsion. 


	10. Chapter 10

_"I wouldn't hurt you, Grace."_

Elijah's voice sounded in her head and Grace was ripped from her sleep. She sat up with a gasp and looked around confused, having no clue how she'd come home from the dinner party. A chill went down her spine. She could've sworn that the voice she heard was real. But they weren't, no one was here, she obviously dreamt. But Elijah never said those words to her. He actually left town all of a sudden, which hurt her quite more than she would admit.

The terrible headache hit her and she groaned before getting up and looking into the mirror. She looked terrible. Her skin was pale and deep purple circles shadowed her brown eyes. It didn't really feel like a hangover, more like a concussion or something, but still Grace saw the reason in drinking too much wine. She definitely should consume less alcohol. But sometimes it faked to be the solution of everything.

Grace took a long, hot shower, feeling a bit better afterwards. She allowed herself to take a shot of aspirin to numb out the headache, but she was sure that she wouldn't get better for the whole day. The young woman would've loved to spent her day in front of TV with ice cream and bad romantic comedies, but there was so much work left over that she couldn't ignore anymore.

Fortunately she got to concentrate better than expected when she started reading through one of the paper she was about to correct. Still she had a Founder's Day Parade to plan, but first of all she had to earn some money to feed her siblings and herself through the month. Being a parent was exhausting.

When she got up to grab one of her books to start some of the required research, her thoughts wandered off to Elijah. She was fairly disappointed but couldn't help but miss him here. It was so much fun working together with him. He also could've helped her in this topic. But now she had to forget him, he probably would never come back here.

She touched the back of the book and all of a sudden the pain in her head intensified. A picture built up in her mind. It was Elijah, he stood on a street in the dark, right on front of her. She felt emotions like fear creeping up in her. He looked down to her with cold eyes and Grace started to shiver. It felt so strange, like those emotions were from a second hand perspective, like she already lived through them but couldn't remember. Never had she seen Elijah looking at her like that, he had the aura of an serial killer.

"Grace?"

Jeremy's voice came up from behind her and ripped her out of her vision. She was startled because she hadn't heard him coming up and she turned around in a hurry, letting the book fall clumsily. She bend down to pick it back up and noticed that the headache was gone all of a sudden. What was going on with her?

"Are you alright?"

Her brother frowned and looked at her with worry. Grace sighed and shook her head to clear her mind.

"Yes, I am. Just hungover."

He laughed and and pinched her in the side to which Grace shrieked but joined the laughter. Walking back to the kitchen table that was her chosen place for work, she placed the book down and took a seat.

"Oh, did the all-so-adult dinner party go off the rails?"

Grace rolled her eyes. She wasn't being the best role model, but her siblings were old enough to know that also adults were allowed to have some fun and drink.

"Kind of. Where's Elena?"

Her sister came back from the lake house late in the evening if she remembered right. But to be honest everything from last night was cloudy. The unusual thing about it was, that Grace couldn't remember drinking THAT much.

"She went out with Caroline and Bonnie after school. Grace, um...are you still mad?"

The oldest Gilbert sighed and looked down to her papers. She didn't really knew herself. She wasn't really mad anymore, but still disappointed. It would take long to gain her trust back.

"I'm not if you promise me to not hold secrets of that magnitude anymore."

Jeremy bit his lip, looking torn. There was something more, but Grace figured she already knew what.

"...Like the fact that you're into Bonnie Bennett. Don't worry, it's too obvious to call it a secret."

Her little brother's eyes widened and his expression was full of surprise and shock. It was kind of cute, for that moment he was the boy Grace knew when she left Mystic Falls. He had been through so much. But Grace believed that he was through his drug addict phase and she was grateful that Bonnie seemed to help him end it.

"Does Elena know?"

He tapped from one foot to another, nervous about his sister's reaction. Grace smiled amused to that.

"No, she doesn't. I would handle it more sensitive with her, Bonnie's her best friend. But tell her as soon as you can, it's always worse when it comes out from someone else's mouth."

She gave him a glare with her last words and saw that he got the message. Jeremy nodded and stormed out of the kitchen.

Later this day, Grace still sat over her work when Elena with her friends, Caroline and Bonnie, arrived at the house. Grace heard their giggling which made her notice how late it already was. She groaned and pushed her hair away from her face.

The cheery mood died when the girls saw Grace sitting in the kitchen. Elena's face went completely blank and cautious. She stood in the doorway, unsure what to do.

"You can sit here, I'm already finished. Would you order some pizza for me, too?"

The older sister stood up and cleaned the table of her supplies. It was obvious that the girls wanted to disappear to somewhere else, them pathetically creeping around was almost funny. Grace noticed that she seemed to be quite intimidating.

"Elena."

She said sighing and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her younger sister turned around, an almost frightened expression on her face. It pushed Grace over the edge and she couldn't hold back a laugh. The tension seemed to relax immediately, Bonnie and Caroline let out relieved breaths.

Grace walked up to her sister and hugged her tightly, rubbing her back lightly. Elena was close to tears, she felt her body shaking of sobs, so Grace held her away from her a little. The sister's looked each other in the eyes and everything was told. They both knew that it was ok. She kissed Elena on her cheek and let her go to sit with her friends.

After opening the fridge, she sighed. It was nearly completely empty. Grace pulled out a bottle of coke and got four glasses from the cabinet and placed them in front of the girls and herself.

"We definitely need pizza, I've got nothing else to offer."

Grace shrugged and Bonnie took a tablet to order the food. She closed her eyes for a second, but every time she did, there was this picture of Elijah, like it was burned into her eyelids. It still frightened her.

"You look like the empty fridge isn't the only thing bothering you. Guy problems?"

Caroline looked at her with curiosity. This girl had really changed. She remembered the blonde to be a bitchy teenager that pushed everyone around. None of them was involved in the bullying towards Grace, they were too young for that, but some years ago Caroline was he person that would've treated Grace like rubbish.

"Kind of. You, too?"

The younger girl smiled sadly and cupped her face with her hands and stared to the wall thoughtfully.

"I would call myself an expert by now."

She told them the whole story with Matt. Grace couldn't help but feel cheered up by the conversation with her sister and her friends. It just felt so normal. Like what her life would've been like if her parents hadn't died. But maybe not. Maybe she would've still been the rebellious, stubborn loner.

"And what's your men-related complaint?"

Bonnie asked after Caroline had finished. She saw how relieved Caroline looked after she spilled the beans. But was there even anything to say in Grace's case? Nothing really had happened between her and Elijah.

"I don't know. You remember Elijah, the author that worked with me on his book? He left town after the dinner party without saying goodbye or anything. It's pathetic, but I can't stop thinking about it."

Grace had stood up to fill in more coke for her and didn't see the girls exchanging meaningful glances.

"Has something happened between you two?"

Elena's voice was a little direct than usual, but Grace didn't mind. It was already pathetic enough to talk to her sister about her guy problems.

"No, that's the point. You know what, let's forget it. He's gone, I'll probably never see him again."

She smiled and sat back on the chair.

"That's the spirit! Hey, maybe the pizza guy will be hot, Grace!"

Caroline chirped in and made everyone laugh. Together, after the disappointment of a not so hot pizza guy, they ate the delicious food. They laughed a lot and it made Grace feel a lot better.

"Do you want to join us in the Grill? There's a live band playing."

Bonnie said and the girls looked at her pleadingly. Grace just shook her head smiling.

"I'll have to pass. I'll go to bed early today and have a really long, good sleep. But you girls have a good time."

The next day Grace wasn't so sure if she was happy that she hadn't gone to the Grill with the girls. Elena told her about the fire and Grace was filled with worry. Fortunately no one was hurt, especially not her siblings or their friends. More and more it got upsetting for Grace that such horrible things happened in their small town. Since she was here more action was going on than her whole youth here.

In the afternoon Elena and Grace were invited for a special meeting of the historical society. They were supposed to receive a donation for their mother's foundation, which was pretty tough for the sisters. The foundation had been precious for Miranda Gilbert and now it was led by some distant relative. But right now none of the sisters were ready to do it, maybe Grace would consider taking it over when she finished her studies.

The sisters got dressed up before Stefan joined them. Grace was happy that he was with Elena with for this, she needed someone to keep her going. Elena was the one that still suffered the most. Jeremy and Grace had always been relatively independent, while Elena was the one that stuck to their parents the most.

When they entered the Lockwood mansion, Carol greeted them happily and kissed Grace on both cheeks. She had gotten quite close to the mayor, as Carol was very happy that Grace took over most of the responsibility for the historical society.

Stefan, Elena and Grace stood in the back of the huge meeting room, where the other members had already taken their seats. Plans for the parade rushed through the oldest Gilbert's mind as Carol announced the donation.

"...And here to accept the donation for the Miranda Sommers Gilbert scholarship fund are Elena and Grace Gilbert."

The young women smiled lightly at Carol as they walked side by side to the front, accompanied by the polite clapping of the people surrounding them.

Grace took over the envelope and faced the audience. The sister had already agreed that she would speak as it would be easier for her and she was already more involved with the historical society.

"The historical society was my mother's baby. She considered you all as family. I'm very happy that you took me in like you did with her and I'm joyful to make our town's history living and breathing. Because we all are part to keep that precious inheritance..."

She stopped when she heard a loud, clattering sound from the room next door. Everyone's heads turned around and the expressions turned into surprise and horror. Someone had fallen down the stairs, Stefan was already kneeling next to the person. She saw light blonde hair on the floor and Grace immediately recognized John. Sheriff Forbes and her stormed towards him, also kneeling beside him as nearly every member joined them.

"Is he breathing?"

Grace asked panicked. She hated John, but of course she didn't wish injury or even death for him. He laid there so motionless, it was horrifying. How could this happen? Was he ill or just drunk?

"Um...yes."

Sheriff Forbes said hesitantly. Grace wasn't convinced, but before she could check for herself, Stefan grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"Come, Grace, let Sheriff Forbes do her work."

"I already called an ambulance."

Carol came up from behind her with a phone in her hand. Confused, Grace looked down to John who still looked very dead. Something was really off here, but Stefan was right, Liz and the paramedics were the only ones that could help. She stepped back, Stefan still held her arm.

"Elena?"

Looking around, she couldn't find her sister. She freed herself from Stefan's grip and turned around to look for her, but all of a sudden she showed up behind her.

"Right here."

Grace took a deep breath of relief when she saw her, but wasn't sure what to do now. She wasn't responsible for John at all, but still he was some kind of family.

"Go home, Grace. I'll bring Elena home later one. My brother will care about everything."

Thankfully she nodded at Stefan and took a last look at her sister to check if she was ok before she went out of the Lockwood mansion. It was getting even crazier here. She really hoped John would get out of this fine. They would've reacted differently if he was dead, wouldn't they? Maybe the fall wasn't too bad.

Grace craved for a normal day. A day were everything was like it had been some years ago, with a usual small town that was quiet. Without any fires, or people being attacked or even killed. Right now she had no idea that this was quite a handful to ask while she lived in Mystic Falls.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Grace was relieved to hear that John was fine and already out of the hospital. Of course he was back to annoy the hell out of her, but at least he was alive. It was a reason to get out of her bed today. She was done with disappearing and dying people.

Jeremy and Elena were both out and John was god knows were, so she could invest the day into working again. She did pretty good, by the afternoon she was even ahead of her schedule.

Maybe she could do some distance learning courses if it went on like that. The eager student side of her missed university life badly. All those parties, all this creative correspondence between students and teachers. It had this atmosphere of learning that inspired Grace. But quite some time would pass before she could think about herself again.

When her phone rang, Grace was ripped out from her concentration and was a bit confused at first. One; it was already late afternoon. Time flies so much around here. Second, the caller was Alaric. Grace didn't even realize that he had her number. She answered.

"Ric?"

"Um...hi, Grace. How are you doing?"

Frowning, Grace stood up and walked to the kitchen counter to get herself something to drink. It was strange, Alaric and her really weren't close.

"I'm fine, thanks. How can I help you?"

His pauses and stumbling let Grace already assume that he was going to ask her out. She mentally prepared for ditching him.

"Uh, you know this decade dance is tonight...60's bah...some teachers called in ill, so I would be the only one there to watch over the children. I remembered you were there at the last dance, maybe you could join again."

Grace smiled relieved, happy that it wasn't the case she expected.

"Sneaky little colleagues you have that always skip the dirty school work...Count me in."

She laughed and Alaric thanked her before he hung up. Grace still wondered about his odd behavior but let it go quickly when she came to the question what she should wear to a freaking decade dance and that literally in the matter of a hour. Students prepared for weeks for this. Rolling her eyes she went upstairs to find something that would fit.

When she arrived at the dance, the first students were already there. It was nearly identical to the last dance she visited. The same bad alcohol free drinks and the same dumb laughter. Just different outfits. Her sister and her friends hadn't arrived yet.

"Hey Grace! You look really good."

Alaric came up from behind her and Grace turned around startled. She was getting jumpy, all those crazy attacks were getting the best of her.

"Oh, hey Ric. Thank you very much. Quite the fancy outfit."

Chuckling, she turned to the mass of children. Alaric seemed to have the same outfit trouble like she did. He also wore a normal looking outfit, just a bit more colorful.

"Those kids and their dances...did you like those when you were in school?"

Her chuckle turned into a laugh. She shook her head amused.

"Oh no, I wasn't that kind of student. I was the eternal loner, nothing like my littler sister. No clue where she got that from."

Grace spotted her sister coming through the door, together with Stefan, Damon, Bonnie and Jeremy. Rip seemed to have called the older Salvatore for kid duty, too. She smiled when she saw her siblings dancing closely to their partner.

They were interrupted from a girl Elena's age speaking into the microphone.

"The next song comes with a special message. For Elena...from Klaus."

The group around Elena shifted uncomfortably while Grace frowned. Something was wrong here.

"Who the hell is Klaus?"

Grace blurted and Alaric beside her just shrugged. Another strange thing, usually he was always worried about Elena and Jeremy.

"Excuse me."

She whispered and pushed through the mass to reach her sister and ask her what was going on. Her siblings' eyes widened when they saw their older sister.

"Grace, what are you doing here?"

It was like she was looking for help among her friends. They must've something in their minds that Grace wasn't supposed to know. Again. Her hands clenched into fists. She couldn't believe that Elena was trying that again.

"No, that's not the question of importance here. Who's Klaus and what's going on here?"

Grace was looking at her sister intensely. She wouldn't get out of this without giving her a smooth explanation. The oldest Gilbert was done with giving her siblings their freedom, they used her trust quite too much.

"Um, no one. Just some creep from school. I already told him that I have a boyfriend."

Shaking her head, Grace shot a glare at Stefan. He should protect her better. At least he wasn't looking down like a coward or something, instead he gave her a apologetic look.

"Where's that guy? I think we should've a serious conversation."

Never would Grace have imagined that she would develop such protective instincts, but that's what responsibility came with. She had developed into a family person, a mixture of parent and sibling.

Elena grabbed Grace's arm as she wanted to pass by, steaming of anger.

"No, no, no. Listen, Grace, you need to get home immediately. I'll explain later."

The older sister raised an eyebrow and caught Jeremy's glance who looked troubled. Seems like he was into this, too.

"I'm here for supervision, I can't go yet. Let me go, Elena. We'll talk about this later."

Her sister still clung onto her wrist and looked at her pleadingly. Grace was getting annoyed by this, she was acting like a twelve year old.

"Grace, please..."

But she just shook her head and freed herself from Elena's grip before disappearing into the mass again. She was on the lookout for this Klaus guy, but she knew every kid in here. After seeing Alaric she got back to stand beside him, she would care about the matter later one.

"Can I show you something? While prepared for my class, I stumbled upon something I couldn't place right and I thought you could help."

Alaric asked smiling and Grace returned it. He wasn't embarrassed to ask if he couldn't find out himself, which Grace appreciated. No one could know everything and she was quite deeper into her studies than a teacher probably was.

"Sure."

The history teacher led her out of the hall with a hand on her back, which made her quite uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything because she didn't want to sound ridiculous. Ric stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to Grace.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell Damon that we're out for a sec. Will be back soon."

With raised eyebrows Grace nodded and followed him with her eyes. Since when did they need Damon's permission? He probably already found out that he was alone with the children for a moment. Maybe he was just being overly polite.

Grace walked down further the hallway, she knew where the history room was. Three students came to her view, walking towards her. She heard doors slamming shut and four other boys came up from behind her.

"Boys, really, what are you doing here? You should get back in, you're not allowed to run around in the hallway tonight."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she waited for them to vanish, but instead, they came closer to her. The tension grew and Grace tried to choke down the lingering fear. Those were kids, they wouldn't be violent towards a grown woman...wouldn't they?

"We don't have to listen to what you say."

One of the boys said. His voice and eyes looked clouded, he nearly sounded like a robot. Grace stepped back only to crash into someones chest. Then, they started their action. The boy that had spoken hit her right in the face, while two others held her. They continued to kick into her stomach. Grace tried to scream, but one of them covered her mouth with his hand. She bit into his palm hard and he let go of her with a groan.

Fighting as hard as she could, she tried to get out of that circle of those boys that had formed around her. But she was outnumbered. They grew more violent by the second, the hits grew harder. Grace felt her jaw break and she sunk onto the floor and they continued kicking her. She curled up into a ball to protect her head and the important organs.

All of a sudden, they were interrupted. Blood from a cut on her forehead flowing into her eyes prevented her from seeing properly. But she could see that Stefan and Damon were there, fighting the attackers.

The last thing Grace saw was a stake sticking in Damons shoulder before she blacked out.

 _"The point is, they don't know that I wouldn't hurt you. They think I'm just using you to get what I want."_

 _"Aren't you doing that right now?"_

 _Elijah's gaze on her was intense and lingered for a short while. As if he was looking for the answer somewhere in her._

 _"No."_

Darkness surrounded Grace when she woke up. She wasn't in her room. The bed was quite bigger and the sheets felt more silky than hers. Panicking a bit she sat up and then saw that light shone through a slight opening of the door.

Someone stood in front of the door. Them shifting made the little streak of light shift.

"Hasn't she woken up yet?"

Grace recognized Stefan's voice. The oldest Gilbert immediately leaned back and closed her eyes, she wanted to her what they were talking about first before they noticed that she was awake.

"Come on, Elena, get out of the way. I'll wake her and compel her. This could get quite nasty if she wakes up knowing what had happened."

What he said made Grace realize what she had seen the last before she fell unconscious. She wanted to touch her face instinctively, but could keep herself from it. The pain was gone, she didn't fell any injuries on her body. That wasn't possible. They hurt her badly. She saw her own blood on the floor.

The person in front of the door, probably Elena, shifted and the room was all dark.

"No, Damon, she was injured. She needs rest. I don't know if it's the best to compel her again...Jeremy told me that she was acting very strange yesterday, as if she was seeing things. What if the compulsion messed with her head? We should tell her the truth."

Compulsion? What did that mean? But what got her more upset was that Jeremy actually noticed her acting strange. They were right those visions and dreams of Elijah...they weren't normal. Maybe she was getting mentally ill.

"Not an option. It's too dangerous right now. The best protection for her is to stay in the unknown. She already has a target on her back and as I know your stubborn sister, she'll jump right into it and literally punch Klaus in the face with her little, weak fists...and that crazy glare that creeps the hell out of me."

Grace was on the edge of jumping up and hit Damon in his face for his disrespect. She wasn't scary...she hoped so. But again this Klaus person. The confusion made Grace's head ache.

"Elena's right, Damon. She needs rest, vampire blood can't heal a shock. We'll take care of it when Grace has slept enough."

Damon sighed and probably rolled his eyes, but stepped aside. The door went open wider and Elena slipped into the room.

"I'll stay with her, in case she wakes up."

Elena said to Stefan and closed the door behind her. Grace felt the mattress shift behind her and her sister cuddled into the sheets behind her.

"Everything will be fine, Grace."

The younger Gilbert promised, which was so odd. Grace was the one to protect her, not the other way around.

Elena seemed to try and stay awake while she distracted herself while playing with her phone, but she seemed to be very exhausted. She yawned often and then Grace heard her phone falling onto the bed and her sister's breathing steadied. Elena had fallen asleep, which was Grace chance to do something. They didn't know that she heard everything. Grace was wide awake, her thoughts raced. What could she do? Running wasn't an option. It was in the middle of the night and she wasn't stupid, they would get her. Whatever the Salvatores were. Surely there was a lot going on that was way out of the normal. And it was definitely connected with those visions she had.

Elijah...

She needed to find him. His departure had something to do with this. Maybe he wasn't gone at all...Or he was dead, too.

As silent as she could, she got out of the bed. At first, she needed to get out of here and find a phone, but surely not the one that was still in her sister's hands.

The house was quiet as she sneaked through the huge hall that connected the rooms. Fortunately she was on the ground-floor, so no creaking old stairs were getting in her way.

Grace didn't know why, but she stopped in front of an open door that revealed stone stairs that led into a dimly lit cellar. There was something that lured her to go down there. The promise of her fear fading made her follow down the stairs. She had an odd feeling in her stomach, but somehow she felt safe down here if she just...

There he was. His body laid on the floor, his grey skin barely a contrast to the cold looking stones. She covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from screaming. A stake, or a knife what sticking from his chest.

He's dead! It ran through her head and he whole body started to shake in fear. She fell to her knees beside Elijah's corpse and ran her hand through his hair, as if it would wake him up. Grabbing the stake, with all the force she had, she pulled it out.

She hand clue why she didn't run and get into safety to call the police. The Salvatores were murderers, they killed Elijah and sister was somehow intervened in this, she needed to safe her.

But there had been this urge to pull the stake out of him. The unbearable feeling of feeling powerless hit her and she fall back and simply sat on the floor. How should she get out of here without being caught? It was a miracle that no one had heard her going down the cellar, but coming back up and through the door was almost impossible.

Grace stared into Elijah's motionless face and she felt tears burning in her eyes. She blamed him for leaving her...and instead he had been here all the time, murdered in cold blood.

But then Grace noticed a change. His skin suddenly changed back into its usual color, they grey shadow slowly faded. It still looked sickly pale, but not unnatural anymore. Grace couldn't move, she could just look at what was happening right in front of her.

All of a sudden, his eyes opened and Grace saw these chocolate depths she had been lost in so often again.


	12. Chapter 12

Grace gasped when she saw his eyes opened. A minute earlier she thought he was dead, a freaking dagger stuck out from his chest! She held the bloody item in her hand and stared from it back to Elijah.

All of a sudden Elijah moved upwards and grabbed her hand. Involuntary he touched her way too hard, Grace prayed that he wouldn't crush some bones. She was too afraid to even scream or make any sound.

"Grace."

Elijah whispered with his eyes wide open and then, Grace's vision changed, suddenly, she didn't see the grey, wet stones of the cellar anymore. In front of her was huge room, dimly lit by candles and fire. Around her was a mass of people in ancient looking clothing. Judging by the style, it was from the 14th to 15th century in England.

But Grace wasn't part of the mass surrounding her, it was like she was an observer looking at it from an outside perspective. She knew that she was still physically in the Salvatore cellar, but what happened right in front of her was something completely else.

What confused her even more was that Elijah entered the room, but not in the suited up way she knew him. He wore fitting leather clothing, those of a noble man, and wore his hair long, it nearly touched his broad shoulders. In contrary to Grace, he seemed to be part of the mass. He chatted with the people and whispered something into another man's ear. Then, his eyes directly stared into Grace. Could he see her here? Medieval-Elijah, still medieval, but not far from a shifting into the upcoming Renaissance-style, she noticed, was walking towards her and Grace's eyes widened. She had no clue what to do. But those worries puffed into thin air when he walked right through her. Confused, Grace turned around and came face to face with an even bigger shock. Elijah hadn't looked at Grace, he had focused on Elena. Or better said, Elena in a damn gorgeous period dress.

But with this realization hit Grace. If Elijah couldn't see her here...this was a memory. Set back in the time Grace had guessed from looking at the setting and the clothing. But why was Elena here? Grace stepped closer to listen into the conversation. The girl looked exactly like her sister, but it surely wasn't her. The way she spoke and carried herself, with a hidden overwhelming self confidence and a mask of shyness differed completely from Elena, the honest and brave little hero.

Another man joined the trio, and the girl's eyes widened at his sight. He was blonde with blueish-green eyes, Grace couldn't really see it from the place she stood. Elijah and him differed slightly from their shape, Elijah was much stronger built, but still they had this odd similarity that only brothers seemed to have. Still, there was something about this guy that made Grace uncomfortable.

"Niklaus, this is Katerina."

Elijah said smiling and Grace frowned. Katerina...so she was right, this definitely wasn't her sister. But before Grace could think more about it, she was ripped out of the memory and was back into the cold cellar. She felt a bit dizzy, but focused back quickly to a frightened looking Elijah.

Grace rushed back over to him when he let go of her hand and lightly shook him when his head sunk back onto the floor.

"Elijah, it's me, Grace. Please, you have to wake up."

For a moment, there was an eerie silence and then he turned around, as if he was trying to get a hold of her. He breathed heavily and with horror, Grace heard a crushing sound, like his bones were snapping back into place.

Then, he came to his feet with a way too quickly to be human, but it still was an abrupt, strange movement.

"I can't...I can't breathe...What is happening to me?"

He gasped and fell back onto his knees. Grace put her fright away and tried to steady him, but he rushed back from her to the door, but he stopped suddenly, like if he crashed into an imaginary wall. Again Grace tried to get to him, she wrapped her arms around his shaking body. His weight was on her and she nearly fell down, but her stubborn will power kept her going.

"I can't be in this house...get me out of here!"

His voice still came out in hard, unsteady breath and Grace obeyed. She kept walking and somehow got him up the stairs. Grace was relieved when she saw that the door leading outside wasn't far from the cellar and she hurried to get the door open. Elijah rushed away from her and out of the house where he stopped and took deep, quick breaths in to calm his aching lungs.

His back faced her when Grace also stepped outside. She carefully touched his shoulder so she could check if he was alright. He turned around and looked down to her with a hungry expression on his face.

It was hard for Elijah to resist the urge and drink from her here and now. Her heart was beating so fast, her delicate neck was exposed by the t-shirt with the low cleavage she wore. He just had to brush her hair away and lean in to...

...but she was the one that saved him. She freed him from the misery of laying in cellar with a dagger in his heart. The Salvatores and Elena would pay for this, but first of all, he had to take care of the beautiful woman that stood in front of him.

His gaze softened and he reached for her face with his hand, cupped her cheek and gently stroke her cheekbone with his thumb. She let it happen and closed her eyes for a second, before she opened them and looked into Elijah's eyes intensely. A strange, differing urge from his bloodlust came up in Elijah, but he had to show restraint. Not now.

"Thank you, Grace."

When she broke the eye contact and looked down, she then noticed how disheveled his appearance was. His suit looked burned, his skin still had this slight touch of grey and his hair decently wasn't in its usually neat form.

"I want an explanation. But we need to get away from here before the Salvatores hear us."

His upper lip lifted slightly in anger when he spoke their name. So she was right, the Salvatores were responsible for his...state. She sneaked back inside and sent a prayer when she found her car keys on a shelf near the door.

But where should she go? Going home was way too obvious. They would find her there. Right now she wanted nothing more than to get out of this town, but her thoughts wandered to her siblings. They surely both knew about all these strange events, that's why they behaved so strange towards her. But she had to get them out of here and flee. One thing after another. They both didn't seem to be in instant danger, but Elijah and her were.

Together with Elijah she got into the car and she quickly sped off, hoping the brothers hadn't heard the engine of the car.

"Drive to the Lockwood estate, we'll be save there."

Grace frowned but nodded. It wasn't a long drive and Grace needed to sort through her thoughts before she could ask any questions. She came to a halt in front of the estate. Elijah looked at her with a wondering gaze.

"They compelled you to forget, didn't they?"

The oldest Gilbert turned to look at him, confusion written all over her face. Maybe it was a fault to free him, he could be dangerous, too.

"What do you mean by compelled?"

She had remembered the word from the conversation she eavesdropped on earlier.

"I already told you about everything after the dinner party. They forced you to forget it."

Grace shook her head, again there was this headache. These visions from the last days and now what Elijah told her, it was too much for her to bear.

"You left town after the dinner party...but...I had these visions of you. One were you stood on a dark street in front of me, then another one where you told me that you wouldn't hurt me..."

Now it was Elijah who frowned. That wasn't possible. She didn't wear vervain on her and she was human. But he already had known that there was something special about her, maybe it was her close relation to the doppelgänger.

"Grace, I can restore your memory. But I need to ask a favor of you first, I know I'm not in the position to ask for anything but..."

He let his words fade out.

"What favor?"

Grace asked, a bit more calm. Her pulse slowed a bit when she finally could grow used to the situation. She already feared that she was going to have a heart attack.

"Do you trust me?"

Her common sense screamed no, but her heart told a different story. She looked into his warm, chocolate eyes and nodded. A smile twitched on the corners of his lips. He took her hand and carefully twisted it so the sensitive, pale skin of her inner forearm faced upwards. Elijah looked at her to check if she was still trusting him. She had no clue what he was about to do, but her pulse raised again and her breath hitched when he lifted her hand and led it to his mouth. He leaned in and his lips touched the sensitive skin where her veins were shimmering blue. His tongue darted out shortly and Grace gasped before she felt a stinging pain in her wirst. She looked at him breathing heavily. His eyes had changed, they were nearly black with a hint of red and veins pulsated around them. The pain was gone shortly after and his lips sucked on her skin. Grace couldn't really think straight, the strange, tingling sensation in her stomach had replaced the pain and she felt so warm and protected even though she deep inside her knew how wrong this situation actually was. But it didn't feel wrong. She felt so strongly connected with Elijah as he fed from her blood. Her eyes closed and her head sank against his shoulder, to which he immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. A slight groan escaped his lips.

It took a lot of Elijah's will to rip away from her. She tasted so sweet and delicate, even better than he imagined. This moment had been so intense and intimate because she was willingly offering him her blood. Their bond was stronger than ever, it shifted from a carefree flirt with sparking emotion to the next level.

He held her close and stroked her hair while they both could process what had happened. Strength flew through Elijah, while Grace felt lightheaded. But not in a bed way.

"What is wrong with me? Am I crazy?"

Grace whispered after a while. Her hands had clenched on Elijah's burnt clothing. He lifted his head and forced her to look at him.

"You are not crazy, Grace. I promise, you'll understand soon...but removing the compulsion will hurt. I can do it, or simply explain what happened again."

She thought for a moment but shook her head.

"No, I want to see for myself. I don't want to be manipulated or messed with my mind."

Elijah nodded, but looked at her with worry. He placed his hand on her cheek again and closed his eyes. She opened her mind to him and she roamed through it, respecting her privacy as much as he could. He found the changed memories and did his best to remove it. A sound of pain escaped her lips and it broke his heart. The Salvatores made him break his promise that he would never hurt her. Another reason to simply kill them. It was a pity that he still needed them to keep Elena in check.

It took him nearly ten minute to restore everything and to put it right. When they both opened their eyes, tears fell from Grace's eyes and she panted, the pain slowly disappearing. Instinctively, she rushed away from Elijah, only to be stopped by the car's door in her back. Her eyes were wide and quickly got out of the car. Elijah was in front of her within the blink of a second, afraid that she would try to run. But she just shook her head disappointed. That intimacy, the feeling of trust was gone.

"I don't want to run, Elijah. I just can't bear seeing you right now. But I guess I have no choice, huh?"

He sighed and walked to the Lockwood mansion without saying another word. While he knocked, he looked at Grace standing beside him. Every possible emotion was on her face, which was unusual for her. She wasn't the person that could be read like a book. But she was too shaken to keep it under the surface right now.

Carol opened with a surprised look on her face.

"Grace, Elijah! What are you doing here? Um...What happened?"

She eyed Elijah's disheveled state up and down to which he rolled his eyes.

"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol and I was hoping you could help."

The mayor refused at first, apologizing because she was on her way to a meeting. But Elijah stepped forward and compelled her to let them in. Grace sighed, feeling bad for Carol. She now knew how it felt being so open and powerless against these creatures.

She sat down on one of the comfy chairs while Elijah changed into one of Carol's husbands suits. It got her time to think about everything. Elijah, Caroline and the Salvatores were vampires. Jeremy knew, too. Her sister was a doppelgänger, the key figure into breaking Klaus' hybrid curse. The curse would be broken which meant her sister had to die, so Elijah could kill this Klaus person with the help of Bonnie. That wouldn't happen.

"Have you compelled me once, too?"

Grace asked immediately when Elijah came back down the stairs. He looked better, the suit wasn't tailored for him of course, but it fitted and his hair was neatly combed. Again he looked like the historian she met at that meeting...what a long time ago that felt right now.

"No. I would never, Grace."

"Why?"

She shot the snarky question, being beyond angry, feeling so betrayed and used.

"Because you're precious to me...I promised to never hurt you and I vow to protect you at all cost."

Elijah admitted. At first he had hated himself for going too far. He had taken a liking into this girl, even though he at first only used her to get to Elena.

"You already did hurt me. You can cross that out from your noble list of do-goodies. I can't believe that you see anything more in me than a weak spot on my sisters list of loved ones. From the beginning on you used me to get to her."

She paced around the room, trying to hold the tears back. Being angry and disappointed wasn't a good mixture, it made her whiny.

"You're right. At first I used you. But then, it changed. I got to know you and you're so much more...I couldn't resist you."

It was hard for him to say that, he was never good at saying how he felt. He was when he was human, but that part of him died a thousand years ago.

"That doesn't make anything better. Can you imagine how betrayed I feel, Elijah? I had hope, I thought you were a good man and now...you're the one that wants my sister sacrificed."

The air was getting so thick in here, she stormed out of the house and into the garden. Elijah followed her but kept his distance, respecting that she needed her space. But she calmed quickly and decided to let him walk beside her. She needed more answers.

"I found a way to spare the doppelgänger without becoming a vampire."

Surprise washed over her and she spared him a glance. He really tried to save her sister.

"Did you offer this to...what was her name?...Katerina, too?"

Jealously was obvious in her voice and she could've slapped herself. In his memory she saw the way he looked at her.

"Katerina Petrova, or Katherine Pierce as she calls herself now, is a story I will tell you some time else. But still, I hope you'll never meet this person."

He told her more details about the curse and how he planned to kill his own brother. It stroke her odd that he was a person that could do that, but she didn't care, her priority was to save Elena. They walked side by side through the garden while he talked, it was obvious that he kept himself hard from convincing her that he really cared for her, but Grace wouldn't hear it now and he let it be.

When it got colder and the sun started to set, Elijah got out of his suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She shot him a glare, but thanked him. He let her back inside and fixed them a glass of red wine he found in the kitchen.

Grace sighed and kicked her shoes off before she sat down on the sofa and drowned the wine. It was really good.

"Promise me to not touch Elena and her weirdo-boyfriends, please. They just tried to protect my sister, they didn't knew that it was a dumb move."

The oldest Gilbert had figured that the brothers really cared about her sister, even if they were stupid enough to literally kill their best ally.

Elijah sighed.

"Grace, they tried to kill me. I can't trust them anymore."

She looked up to him leaning on the chimney.

"You of all people should understand. I can't trust you anymore either. You betrayed me, too, but still I have to cope with the situation and believe what you're saying. And even if that's not enough for you, you owe me. I rescued you and now I want you to spare the Salvatores in return."

They shared another intense gaze before Elijah sipped on his wine and nodded. Grace lightly smiled satisfied.

"You told me you're one of the first vampires...how old are you exactly?"

He chuckled amused.

"I actually don't know the exact number, it gets lost over the years...But I was born over a thousand years ago."

Grace nearly chocked on her wine when she started to laugh. Elijah just raised a brow.

"Oh, sorry, you can't know the irony in it. I kind of have a thing for older men. But that tops it all."

She tried to suppress the laughter, but it was honestly hard. Thinking about the older man story made it better, it was something she tried to forget for years now...

"So you have 'a thing' for me?"

The Original smiled down to her and Grace met his gaze. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by her sister storming into the room. They were so lost in their conversation they hadn't heard her coming in.

Elijah's expression turned wary and he stepped forward, positioning himself slightly a bit in front of Grace instinctively, just in case Elena brought some friends and he had to protect Grace.

"Are you serious?"

Elena blurted when she saw her older sister and the probably dangerous vampire together, both chatting with a glass of wine in their hands. It was obvious that Grace new about everything by now. Grace rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Yes, I am. Before you ask, no he didn't hurt me. Yes, I know everything. And yes, I am mad. That's the understatement of the year to be honest."

She shot both Elijah and Elena a glare and walked past them. Her sister was speechless by Grace's calmness.

"Will you both come? I think we have some catching up to do with the Salvatores."

Some minutes later the two stood in the Salvatore's living room, both brothers looking at Elijah in shock. They stood up ready to fight, but Elena calmed them.

"You invited him in?"

Damon said unbelievingly. Grace stood a bit behind Elijah and Elena, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She still had to take the fact in that Damon and Stefan were vampires.

"Grace renegotiated the terms of the deal I made with Elena. No harm will come to you by my hands. I only ask for one thing in return. An apology."

Grace could just chuckle at that.

"A what?"

Damon said as if he doubted that Elijah was in his right mind. But Stefan stepped forward and looked the Original in the eyes while he apologized for killing him, because he wanted to protect Elena. Grace smiled at that, even though he was a vampire, he really love her little sister. Maybe she would be able to see over that after some time, but also Stefan was involved in lying to her.

The older brother stormed off angrily without apologizing and everyone sighed at his childish behavior. Elijah then turned around to look at Grace.

"I think there's one more apology needed. I'm sorry for using you to get to your sister. I really hope that some time...you'll be able to forgive me."

Grace looked up to the vampire and just shook her head. Elena and Stefan tried to apologize, too, but she stopped them with her hand raised and took a seat on the sofa.

"That's not important right now. Let's discuss how we should save Elena."


	13. Chapter 13

"So you want to tell me that my little sister needs to be sacrificed on a blood altar in order to kill your lunatic brother and you guys are all ok with it?"

Grace asked with a glare directed towards the people sitting around her. Elijah diverted his gaze as he couldn't really look her in the eyes. Fortunately Damon joined them again.

"Finally someone in her right mind! Thanks, Gracie. We can kill Klaus today with Bonnie."

They had already told the oldest Gilbert about Jeremy's and Bonnie's whereabouts and why Bonnie was the secret weapon in this game. Elena shook her head with a sigh.

"It will kill her, Damon. Not an option."

Standing up, Grace paced through he room nervously. She needed to find a solution and felt utterly useless. Grace herself couldn't step into the ritual for Elena, but she would've if she could.

"But killing you is alright? That's also not an option, Elena."

Elena seemed to grow annoyed by all those people trying to protect her. She clutched Stefan's hand tightly.

"We have the elixir. It will bring me back."

She looked at Elijah for his support and he nodded. He gently placed a hand on Grace's arm to stop her from pacing. Looking at him for a moment, she ripped away but stood beside him.

"Trust an ancient elixir with no expiration date? Oh come on, please."

Damon chirped in and Elijah explained why the Gilbert ring wouldn't work on Elena. It disturbed Elijah that one of those rings was on John Gilbert's hand and not on Grace's. She needed better protection.

"Elena, I surprisingly agree with Damon. The risk is too high. Why can't we simply run? Join the vampire witness protection program."

She had no clue how she could be funny right now, but Elijah beside her chuckled slightly. But Elena wasn't in the mood to joke.

"He will kill you all, Grace. What life would it be if I'm responsible for all of your deaths? Jeremy and you...don't take me wrong, but you don't stand a chance against a vampire."

"...not even with protection."

Elijah mumbled to himself, but Grace heard it and shot him a glare. Neither did she wanted his opinion on this, nor did she wanted her sister and their friends to notice that there was something going on between them. He wasn't their enemy right now, but he also wasn't a trusted one.

Sighing, Grace shook her head and let her hands sunk down defeated. She turned around to go out and get some air. She stopped shoulder to shoulder with Elijah and spoke in a threatening voice.

"If she won't get out of this alive...I will kill you and your brother with my bare hands."

They all knew that she didn't meant that serious because even she had noticed that those older vampires were quite hard to kill. Elena sighed in relief because her sister was into the plan now.

But Grace needed a moment alone with herself. She walked through the hall, still not sure where the exit was, when all of a sudden Alaric bursted in right before her. The last she knew was that he was possessed by Klaus who led her to be basted by those boys.

She froze in motion and her eyes widened before she slowly stepped back.

"Elijah..."

Her voice was only a whisper, she was too afraid to scream. This lunatic would kill her without blinking an eye.

Within the splinter of a second, a back in a suit jacket was in front of her, facing Alaric...or Alarics body. Stefan and Damon joined shortly after.

"Damon, Grace, it's me! Please, you have to believe me."

Elijah's back was tensed and robbed Grace of any view. But there was this feeling she always had when she was around him, that feeling of safety.

"Prove it."

The Original growled with his eyes narrowed at the history teacher, ready to attack to protect Grace.

"Um, Damon, you once told me about a dream you had about Elena...She was..."

"Ok, ok, it's him, we can relax."

Damon interrupted before Ric could spill the juicy details. Grace relaxed and smiled amused. But the amusement was out of her face when Elijah turned to her and looked her instinctively up and down to check if she was ok. It made her knees weak that he caring so deeply for her. Never had a man did such things for her.

She wanted to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm and waited until the others were back in the living room. He placed his hand on the back of her neck and leaned his forehead onto hers.

"I really hope that you will be able to forgive me, Grace."

Grace closed her eyes and allowed her to enjoy it for the moment. Deep inside her she had already forgiven him, because she understood that he did what he had to do. Even if it hurt her. But in the end he really wanted to save Elena and gave the opportunity to live her life.

He kissed her on the forehead before he motioned for her to go back to the living room. With confused feelings and a bunch of butterflies in her stomach, she took a seat onto the sofa while Elijah stood behind her, playing with her hair while everyone was too busy to notice.

Elena followed Damon upstairs while they talked about what happened in Alaric's absence. Grace gaze followed her sister and she frowned. She noticed that these to had gotten closer and those little hints that Damon was in love with her...Well, Elena had the real boy problems. Grace on the other hand had a perfect, noble man waiting for her. She knew that besides from being noble, he was more than complicated, but so was Grace. There was just her own pride.

She was distracted by her own thoughts that she didn't hear much of the conversation, but she was pulled back into reality harshly when she heard Elena's scream. Stefan was already out of the sight before Grace had even gotten up from the sofa. It was the first time that she saw the perks of vampire speed. Alaric and Elijah was behind her when she ran up the stairs.

The scene in fron of her made her gasp. Damon stood in the back of the room, before him Stefan, staked through the stomach. Elena was next to her boyfriend's pain struck figure, blood around her mouth. Grace put two and two together quickly and before anyone could stop her, she walked up to Damon and slapped him right across his face.

A glare that would have scared anyone away came out from his light blue eyes, but not Grace. She stared back at him, ready to slap him again, but Elijah pushed between them.

"Touch her and I will rip your heart out."

He warned and looked Damon into the eyes intimidating. Damon looked away after a second and disappeared out of the room. Grace fell to her knees next to Elena and brushed her hair out of her face. Her sister started to cry and Grace took her in her arms until Alaric returned with blood bags for Stefan. For this moment she forgot her anger towards her sister, this was a topic for later.

Ric and Elijah helped up and to sit down on the bed.

"We will be downstairs."

Ric murmured and disappeared out of the room. Grace checked on her sister for one last time before she also left, Elijah beside her.

"Sometimes Grace, I ask myself if I ever met a person like you before, but then you hit a vampire and look him right into the eyes while doing it and I have my answer."

Both of them chuckled lightly, but Grace was still so upset. Her sister would turn into a vampire tonight. Because Damon was foolish enough to not trust anyone. Grace knew that he probably cared so much that he would cope with the fact that she would hate him forever, but still, this wasn't saving her life.

Being a vampire was surely something Elena wouldn't want. She had a too kind nature for it. Even Grace wouldn't want it. Eternity was just too long, especially when everyone around died like flies.

"I should go to see Jeremy...Why am I such a failure, Elijah? They planned this right under my nose for weeks and I didn't find out. I honestly don't know what to do."

Elijah looked at her worried and took her hand into his.

"You're not a failure, Grace. Your siblings are growing up, they have their lives, their secrets...look around, they both have people that care for them. But what keeps them together is you, Grace. You show them that after all, family is valued the most."

Those words helped Grace to get going. Even with those horror right in front of them, she would get through the day.

But another feeling built up in her. The feeling that also for Elijah family was the most important thing on the world. He already told her the story of his siblings being scattered on the ground of the ocean by Klaus, but still she had this feeling that the bond between the brothers was something way deeper than the Atlantic ocean.

"I still need to prepare some things, so I can't escort you to the witch house. But I have something for you in my apartment, would you mind join me? You can take my car afterwards."

Grace nodded and they walked out of the house to go to the pension that Elijah claimed his residence. She only noticed on the side that he still held her hand and she didn't do anything against it. It was selfish, but she needed this feeling of safety urgently.

They entered the apartment and Elijah helped her out of his coat that she had still worn over her shoulders. She waited for him to show her the reason why he wanted her to come here.

Elijah excused himself and she heard him rummaging through something in the bedroom. He came back with a little box and handed it to her. Grace carefully opened the lid to see a beautiful small bracelet, made of a silver chain with countless red stones, she hoped those weren't real rubies, interlaced in it. There also was a quite bigger pearl hanging from it. It was beautiful, but she had no idea how she deserved such a treasure.

"Inside the pearl is vervain. It prevents compulsion. I recommend you take some vervain through tea everyday, it'll make your blood toxic for any vampire..."

He carefully took the bracelet out of the box and wrapped around her wrist before he closed the chain. The rubies made a delicate contrast to the pale skin and the blue veins of her inner forearm. Gently he stroked over the still visible little marks he left while he drank from her.

Her breath hitched and this intimacy they felt after he fed off her was back. Grace then decided that preventing compulsion was enough. She didn't want to be toxic for him. In many ways.

"Thank you."

She whispered and gently caressed his cheek. Usually she wasn't the person to let go things like betrayal that easily. But they could all die tonight. There wasn't time to hold a grudge. She would also forgive her siblings, because they did it to protect her.

They looked each other into the eyes deeply, Grace instantly felt that he was looking for permission into her eyes. She smiled and leaned onto her toes to come closer to his face. It was those moment when time stopped. His cool breath was on her face, his lips just an inch away. Grace couldn't wait any longer and she passed the last distance and gave in into the gentle kiss that she had longed for for quite some time.

Elijah held her while they enjoyed this slow kiss. Even though they faced the end of the world, they weren't in a hurry and took the time to have this little escape from reality. When they pulled apart, they stood there for another while with their eyes closed, before Elijah whispered, afraid to break this moment by speaking too loud.

"Please be careful tonight, Grace."

She smiled before she wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his chest.

"I will be in the in the witch house with Jeremy, safely away. It's you I'm worried about."

He stroked over her long hair before he took her by the shoulder and held her away a bit so she had to look at him.

"I will do everything I can to be able to continue...this...tomorrow. Of course after you spend the much needed time with you sister."

After he kissed her on the cheek, he handed her the car keys. They shared another look, deeply hoping that this wasn't the last they shared. Grace took every detail of him in, because she again had this feeling in her that was, without doubt, always right.

Everything would go wrong.

Without saying anything else, she walked back down to the street and opened Elijah's car. A little, joyful smile was plastered on her face while she recalled what just had happened.

"Good evening, Ma'am, do you know where I will find the um...town square?"

A blonde man approached her with a friendly smile on his face. A British accent was prominent, which Grace found pretty cute. She always had wanted to go to England. Maybe she could when this was over...with Elijah?

Returning the smile, she started motioning with her hands to show him the way.

"Sure, you just have to..."

But before she could end her sentence, his eyes turned bloody red and he bit into his wrist. Before she could scream, he silenced the sound by pinning his bleeding wrist onto he mouth and forced her to swallow the hot, red liquid.

His hands grabbed the sides of her head and she felt a sharp, quick pain before everything went black.


	14. Chapter 14

Darkness.

Water. There's water close by.

Grass scratched lightly at her skin.

The floor was so cold.

Elena's breathing is so loud.

Fire cut the darkness into pieces, it was too bright.

Pain rushed through her veins. At first, every cell of her body hurt, then it disappeared from her arms and legs and wandered to her throat. There it was a different kind of pain. It burned like hell. She felt the urge to cough and drink loads of water, but she knew that this wasn't what she really wanted. What would bring her relief.

Grace opened her eyes to take the situation around her in. They were near the little lake, so they weren't war away from the town. Fire was around her, unnaturally shaped into an accurate circle.

Elena was inside another circle. She gasped when she saw Grace's eyes open. Tears ran over her cheeks, but there was also relief in her eyes. But when realization hit the younger Gilbert, that short moment was gone. Shock and sadness were on her tender features and Grace had no clue why.

"What happened...?"

She stopped when she saw that someone was beside her. Honey colored hair covert the face of the person next to her, but Grace immediately knew who it was.

Jenna laid on her side, still unconscious. Grace's confusion grew, but she took her aunt by the shoulders and shook her.

"Hey, Jenna, wake up."

It took her a moment to wake, but then her eyes shot open and landed on her niece's face. Fear was visible on her, but also the lingering hint of anger. Grace knew exactly why, but it was so long ago...

"What am I doing here? What is SHE doing here?"

Jenna's words were directed towards Elena who glanced between her sister and her aunt, clearly overwhelmed and speechless. It was too much for her, seeing her loved ones here, exactly knowing what happened to them.

"Grace, Jenna...you're in transition."

While Jenna immediately asked what that meant, Grace grew very quiet. In contrary to Jenna she already knew what that meant. She sat back down and pulled her knees to her chest, taking her time to process while Elena explained to Jenna what that meant.

Even though tonight's matter was so serious, he couldn't forget the joy he felt in the afternoon. Still Elijah could feel Grace's soft lips on his. The tips of his fingers still tickled at the places where he touched her. He couldn't stop thinking about her.

But it made it even more important to kill his brother today. If Klaus knew that he had someone so precious to him...he would do the worst to her to destroy Elijah.

It is right to do that, Elijah recalled again. He would save his family and probably the whole world from Niklaus' wrath.

Elijah was ripped out of his thoughts when the Bennett witch joined him and Stefan outside the witch house. The Original leaned against the car, his arms crossed in front of his chest, eyeing the property, waiting for Grace to come out. Alaric probably told her and Jeremy about their aunt's faith right now, so he had to wait a little while longer.

His brows furrowed when he saw the younger Gilbert come out without his sister. Why did she stay downstairs? Or wasn't she here? Grace had told him that she would go to the witch house...

"Where is Grace?"

Troubled, Elijah stepped forward and directly addressed Jeremy, who felt obviously intimidated by the Original. Stefan, Bonnie and Alaric also grew cautious because of Elijah's tone and turned to face him.

"I thought she stayed at home..."

Jeremy said confused. Elijah took another step forward and grab him by the shoulders so he would give him a clear answer, but suddenly winds started to blow and Bonnie's magic send him flying into the truck.

"She wasn't here for the whole day. Why do you ask?"

The witch said through gritted teeth, but right now, Elijah couldn't think about her disrespectful attitude. Grace wasn't here. She never arrived at the witch house. But where was she?

His worry seemed to make the others uncomfortable. They started to understand what he meant, but still Elijah was the fastest to think. He pulled out his phone and dialed Grace's number. Without success. Her beautiful soft voice just told him to leave a message.

Shortly after, Jeremy and Bonnie mimicked his action to no avail. Stefan and Elijah exchanged a glance, both hit by realization. The Original growled and put his phone away before he would break it to pieces.

"He has her, too."

He spoke out the obvious just to help him process. Jeremy gasped and his heart raced now that he knew that his whole families' life was at risk. Without the three woman he would be completely alone.

"Why did he do that?"

Bonnie asked desperately, her gaze fixed on Elijah as of he knew all the answers.

"Either consequences for meddling or..."

...or because he found out that Elijah cared for her. He had been lazy, not determined on hiding his tracks. Klaus probably had him watched. Now Grace payed for his stupidity.

Taking the aunt was punishment for freeing the wolf and the vampire, but Grace would die because she cared for Elijah. He would probably kill both.

He shook his head, showing that he wouldn't finish his sentence.

"I can take him out now, before he sacrifices anyone!"

Now they all turned around to Bonnie, except for Elijah who didn't care for the witches life. If he could, he would've killed her a thousand times to save Grace, but Bonnie was doing this own her free will, which made it easier.

"No, Bonnie, but you'll die in the process. I'll ask to Klaus to trade myself in. I've lived long enough, Grace and Jenna didn't."

Stefans was so right with his words. When this was all over, Elijah would show Grace the world if she wanted to. She had so much to live for, so much to see and Elijah wanted nothing more to get to know her better.

"I'm surprised that Grace didn't get us into this. Why is she even here?"

Jenna hissed. She usually was such a nice person, but not towards Grace. But she understood why. Years ago, Jenna had a boyfriend, Jean, a French, in his mid thirties, devilishly charming, good looking, highly educated. She really was in love with him, even though it was a mild scandal that she dated someone ten years older than her.

But what was the real scandal, the reason why Grace always had been referred to as the black sheep of the family, was that she stole Jenna her boyfriend. Grace was sixteen at that moment and she had hooked up with Jean the evening her aunt introduced him to her family. What is more, she started dating him shortly after Jenna found out and broke up with him. Grace had loved Jean, as much as a sixteen year old could love someone, but he was her first boyfriend, something special, even if he was 20 years older than her. Jean died a year later in a car accident, but Jenna never had forgiven her he betrayal. She had never talked to her since then.

Now that Grace was released from Jean's spell, she found it disgusting herself. But the irony of her affection towards a thousand year old vampire was obvious.

"I took over legal guardianship after you left, Jenna. Why did you give it up anyway?"

She had been silent when Elena had been explaining and sat a bit apart. Jenna send a glare towards her and opened her mouth, but no sound came over her lips to which Grace frowned and looked questioning at her sister who had adverted her gaze to the ground.

"Damon compelled her to go away from Mystic Falls because it was too dangerous for her here. We never thought that you would be willing to take over, Grace."

Her words hit Grace right in the heart. It was painful if people spilled the truth, especially if it concerned your family. Never would she had thought that even Elena and Jeremy thought that less of her.

"You seem to make it a habit to let your family be compelled so you don't have to tell the truth, Elena."

Grace's voice was cold, filled with anger and now it was Elena that was hurt. She deserved it. Compelling was one of the meanest and horrible things possible. Grace herself had thought she would go mad, when it was just a vampire messing with her head.

"Grace, I..."

But before she could start her excuses, a dark skinned woman stepped to Jenna and Grace. She smiled down to the women. Jenna looked at her in fear, while Grace kept her stoic expression. Never did she panic in such situations. It was a perk to stay calm and calculate the chances of escape or simply prepare for her fate.

"You must be very hungry."

She stated and stepped closer to Jenna. The unbelievingly sweet smell of blood hit Grace's nose when she cut through her wrist with her stone. Even though she knew what was happening to her, she never could've imagined how strong the urge to drink blood was. She craved it.

The woman, probably a witch, held her wrist towards Jenna who stared at the fresh, hot, red liquid with the same longing as Grace. Elena's screams were only numb, right now she could just hear the pumping of blood through the witches veins.

Jenna drank the blood and completed her transition. Afterwards, the witch turned to Grace, who had continued to sit on the floor. She looked her in the eyes, but had no clue how she could resist and sighed.

"I'm going to die anyway, right?"

"I told you she's the clever one, Greta."

The man with the British accent, the man that killed her in cold blood joined them in the clearing. A satisfied smile was plastered onto his face when he stepped closer to Grace.

"Drink, love, we need to hurry."

Grace snarled at him, but then stared at Greta's bloody wrist before she sank her aching teeth into her flesh. The blood filled her mouth and calmed her burning throat. Never had she tasted anything that good. She would never be able to describe the taste. Her fangs burst through her gums and ripped her skin wider open. It was euphoric and she didn't know how to ever stop.

Suddenly, the blood was ripped away from her and she growled, the red liquid flowing down her lips and chin. She reached out to grab her again, but the fire was back around them.

Grace and Jenna shared a glance, the first non-hostile in years, both processing what had happened. They were vampires now. Both didn't really had an idea what that meant.

Elena's face was flooded in tears, she never wanted this for any of them. It was nearly ironic, now that Jenna and Grace were technically immortal, they would probably die minutes later.

New screams joined them and another women was kicked towards the trio. She was shifting and tossing, her pained sounds filling the eerie silence of the night. Her eyes gleamed golden, Grace had learned that this meant that she was a werewolf. A vampires greatest enemy. Awesome.

The wolf was the first to be sacrificed. Klaus ripped her heart out in one swift motion. It didn't really surprise Grace. She already figured that he was a ruthless killer.

He walked up to the newbie vampires and smiled down at them.

"Why do you do this to me? I did everything you wanted! I didn't run!"

Elena's voice was teary, her long hair hung around her shoulders messily. Even when she knew it was senseless, she still tried to fight. How brave of her. Grace started to hope that she would die so she wouldn't have to mourn her sister. She loved her siblings so deeply. How could she live without them? A tear ran down her cheek and mixed with the blood on her mouth.

It was then when Grace first felt it. The numbness. The seduction to turn it all off. To never feel again. Probably also a vampire thing beside from heightened emotions.

Klaus paused for a moment before he suddenly rushed to the hill to meet Stefan. Grace sighed, how stupid of him to try and exchange himself for Jenna's and her life. As if Klaus was someone to negotiate with.

He would kill them all. There was no doubt.

"I'm sorry Jenna for what I did. I'm sorry Elena for failing you. Please tell Jer that I love him, ok?"

She whispered and Jenna and Elena turned to her with shocked expressions. Elena started to speak first.

"We're not going to die, Grace! Someone will come to save us. And you haven't failed us. You and Jenna, you two did everything to keep Jeremy and me together."

Grace shook her head annoyed.

"Look around, Elena. You're on the edge of getting killed and I can't do anything against it. I'm not strong enough."

Before Elena again could repeat that they would all survive, Jenna interrupted them as she directed her words towards Grace.

"I forgive you."

It was then when they heard a scream from Stefan as he was staked through the stomach by Klaus, who rushed back to the three women.

"Well now that we got rid of the uninvited guests, who will it be, Elena? Jenna or Grace?"

He was such a cruel monster. Not because of his action, but because of what he asked of Elena now. Klaus grabbed both Jenna and Grace by their upper arms and held them close. They both struggled against his grip, but that didn't seem to bother him.

Elena begged him for mercy, but the soon to be hybrid just smiled cruelly.

"Don't bother, love, I already made the decision for you. I have other plans with your dearest sister."

All of a sudden, his grip was gone from her arm and again his hands were on the sides of her head. The last thing she heard was a really unhealthy crack as he broke her neck.

Rage was all Elijah felt when he saw Grace lying there on the floor. He didn't know if she was dead or a vampire, but currently her heart wasn't beating, which only could mean one thing: Klaus killed her.

It was his rage that made Elijah tower over his brother who squirmed on the floor, hit by Bonnie's magic. He gloated before he would kill his own brother.

His hand crushed through his rip cage and held his beating heart in his hand. He looked Klaus in the eyes, make him see who was the one that would take his life. The one whose life was ruined the most by him.

Hesitating was the biggest mistake Elijah did this night.

"I didn't bury them at see..."

Her vision was blurry when she woke up again. She was woken by Stefans and Bonnie screams and the storm that tugged on her clothes.

When she finally could see properly again, she directly looked into Elijah's eyes. His hand was buried in Klaus chest, the plan seemed to work.

But his eyes told a different story. There was doubt in them. Sadness. Self-hatred. With the glance he gave her, he begged for forgiveness for what to come.

Grace knew immediately what he would do. Even though what Klaus had done to him, despite for whatever he felt towards Grace, he decided to not kill his brother.

What no one else saw in this moment, was that Elijah had his reasons. He didn't do it on purpose. He wanted to help him, he really was ready to kill his own brother, but something changed his mind.

Elijah was exactly what Grace expected him to be. He loved his family and valued them the most. Grace could understand it. She would've done the same.

She felt the power flowing out of her again, so she took her last remaining strength and nodded to him.

The last thing she saw was Elijah and Klaus disappearing into the night. Her head sunk back down into unconsciousness.


	15. Chapter 15

Grace was awakened by Stefan shaking her by the shoulders. She groaned and didn't remember what happened at first, but when she met the younger Salvatore's eyes, it all came back.

Klaus was still alive. He killed Elena. And Jenna. And herself, too. Grace was a vampire now.

"It's over."

Stefan whispered. He was particularly right with that. Indeed, it was all over. It all ended and chaos and everything went wrong. This was one of the darkest days in Grace's life. The shock flooded her and she tried hard to keep herself together. She couldn't break down in front of those children. She needed to be strong for her siblings. There wasn't time to cry.

Quickly she wiped her tears away and Stefan helped her up. She wasn't feeling dizzy or anything. On the contrary, she never felt healthier. Her senses were sharp, she could see, feel and hear everything around her. Everything was so intense, what she had seen with her human eyes felt blurred and unclear.

She actually felt everything. The pain, the heartbreak, the fright...it turned into paranoia and her mind wanted nothing more than to turn it all off. Stefan and Damon had talked about it. Especially Stefan seemed to have gone through it often. It made things easier, but there were two things that drove Grace more than the pain. Love for her family and the fear of being left behind.

Well, and then there were those conflicted growing feelings for a vampire in a suit. Right now, she loathed herself for even being able to think about him and that she did not hate him.

"How do you feel?"

Stefan ripped her out of her thoughts. Bonnie, him and Grace had started to walk back to the town. Bonnie's heart pumping right next to her nearly drove her nuts. She swallowed and tried to keep her breathing even.

"I think you know how I feel."

They both chuckled and again tears flooded her eyes. Damn those heightened emotions. She was all over the place.

"You just lost a lot, Grace. If you want to talk about it..."

Grace smiled, grateful that he was so nice towards here. Even Bonnie shot her a sympathetic smile and Grace knew that she really did not like vampires. Maybe she could go back to her normal life, be one of the good people...

"Thanks, Stefan, but I'm not that person that needs to talk to others and looks for a shoulder to cry on. Especially not on my sister's boyfriend. I just want to know that Elena's fine and doesn't share the same fate as I do..."

He nodded and they went silently on their way. Shortly before they arrived at witch house, Grace came to a halt. Stefan and Bonnie looked at her questioning.

"Go ahead, I just need a minute."

They granted her the wish and Grace closed her eyes for a second. There were so many question to be answered. So many things she didn't know how to handle. For example, how should she live together with her siblings? She could hear everyone's heartbeats and her whole body urged her to bite into their necks. Grace wanted to drink her own siblings blood and she couldn't do anything against it. That's who she was now, who Klaus forced her to be.

She covered her mouth with her hand to calm her aching gums and allowed herself to cry for a moment. Salty tears fell onto her lips and ran down her chin, combining with the dried off blood of the witch she had drunken from.

How should she spent eternity like this?

But for now, she didn't have a choice but accept her fate and finally face her siblings. Everything would change and she was afraid that their relationship would, too.

Slowly she stepped towards the house. Her movements felt so slow because she knew that she could move so much faster now. Power and strength flooded her body, nothing would be able to stop her. But she wasn't ready to see the good parts of her new life.

"Jeremy."

She saw her brother's back facing her, looking at a still sleeping Elena that was surrounded by people. Like she always was. She was loved by so many and so did Jeremy. It was good, because was afraid that she couldn't be there for them enough from now on.

Her brother turned around by the sound of her voice and looked at her in shock. They probably haven't told him that she was alive. Or what she had become.

He walked towards her, probably overwhelmed by joy to see his older sister, but then he suddenly stopped in motion, when he saw the blood that was smeared all over her chin. Grace looked down to her hands to see them covered in dried blood to. She must look like a monster to him. Maybe she was a monster, Grace had to figure that out over time.

For a short amount of time Grace could see disappointment and grief in his eyes and Grace was sure that he felt something that he would never tell her. For him, his sister died. Jeremy wasn't sure if that was truly Grace, the girl he grew up with and loved, and not just an undead monster.

It was gone quickly and the siblings shared a short glance and Jeremy luckily held his distance. Elena needed to wake up human, Jeremy definitely wasn't strong enough to bear his other sister being a vampire, too. He couldn't be alone in this.

Grace hoped that so much. She knew that Elena didn't want to be a vampire. But Grace was the older sister, so she had to go through with her fate and keep herself together. For her siblings she would be strong.

Seconds later, Elena woke up with a gasp. Everyone looked at her in anticipation and all wished for the same.

"I feel like myself."

Relieved breaths were to be heard and Elena hugged Stefan closely. She smiled, happy that she was still human. But when her gaze met Grace, her smile faded, everything seemed to come back to her. She remembered what happened to Grace and Jenna.

"Grace...I'm so sorry."

The younger Gilbert said shaking her head as tears filled her eyes. Grace just gave her a light smile and walked away from the witch house. She couldn't bear seeing them all right now. For a moment she wanted to be alone with her thoughts and process that Jenna was dead. Grace had felt guilty for so long, it saddened her that after Jenna forgiving her, they hadn't had any time to built a bond. Grace would carry this on forever.

What was even more humiliating was that she had to wait on the porch outside her home for her siblings to invite her in. She had completely forgotten about this new feature. Now she sat there, in her dirty and ripped clothing, wanting nothing more than to wash this horrible day off.

Hours later, Grace was showered and put on a tight fitting black dress. The shower had helped her get clean, but it didn't wash the darkness away. Over the whole house there was this veil of grief, this certain silence that no one could break.

John died to safe Elena and Grace hadn't spoken a last word to him. The last he would remember of her was her making sure that he knew that she hated him. Another pack of guilt on her small, immortal shoulders.

Grace sighed and finished curling her messy hair. With her new enhanced hearing she could hear her siblings linger in front of her room. It wasn't only grief that made it so awkward, also the fact that Jeremy and Elena had no clue how to talk to her. They were afraid that she would break down if they said one wrong word.

"I have supernatural hearing now. You know that I can hear you mumbling and lingering."

She raised her voice and her siblings held their breaths, their hearts beating on the same, steady pace that made Grace's throat dry. Shortly after, Jeremy's head peaked through her door.

"Um...can we come in?"

Grace unplugged the curling iron and looked down to her wrist. The bracelet Elijah gifted her still hung it, she had just unclasped the pearl that held the vervain. It was of no use for her anymore, but she still couldn't convince herself to take it off.

"Yes, of course."

The room was dim, because the curtains were shut close, so she wouldn't be burnt by the sun. Bonnie was on her way to make a daylight ring for her before the funeral started. Earlier she was too tired to use her powers.

"How are you doing?"

Elena whispered as they both entered with saddened expressions. Grace shrugged.

"I don't think that I have processed everything yet."

Her siblings nodded understanding. To be honest Grace couldn't really look both of them in the eyes. Even though she knew that it wasn't her fault, she felt guilty. Guilty for her own death.

"Grace, it all happened because of me. I'm so, so sorry."

There were tears in Elena's eyes. Grace suddenly swung around to face her siblings. By the shocked expression on their faces, she noticed that it was quite too fast and she sighed. She had to get used to this.

"No, Elena. It was Klaus' fault. He killed Jenna, you and me. I...I can't tell you how sorry I am that you lost Jenna and John. I kind of survived, I honestly lucky, so there's no reason for me to by whiny."

Silence erupted, none of them sure what to say. The younger Gilberts knew that it was hard for Grace, no one would refer to her fate as 'being lucky'. It was obvious that she lied to herself to be strong, but both Jeremy and Elena knew that it wasn't a topic for now. They had a funeral ahead of them now.

"We still have you."

It was Jeremy who found the right words and it nearly pushed Grace over the edge. A small, sad smile tugged on her lips and she urged to hug her siblings tightly, but she knew she couldn't. Jeremy and Elena seemed to have the same thought as they both walked towards her, but Grace lifted her hands to stop them.

"Better not. I'm not that good with necks close to my teeth yet."

She felt so disgusted by herself. But she had no choice.

Her siblings nodded sadly and left the room. Grace sighed and closed her eyes for a second before turning back to the mirror to check if she looked ok. All those emotions didn't make her face look better.

She frowned when she saw something new in the mirror. Something was on her nightstand, she hadn't noticed it until know. There was an ivory colored envelope with a ring placed on it. Grace took both of it in her hands. It was a golden ring, with a little blue ring attached to it, which looked quite similar to the one a certain Original wore, just more modern. The stone was shaped like a little blue drop of rain, with golden streaks in it. Silver ornaments decorated the golden ring. It was old, very old and a beautiful handcraft.

Grace knew exactly were this came from. Still she opened the envelope, to reveal a paper with some lines on it, written in an elegant handwriting.

My dearest Grace,

as your forgiveness is too much to ask for, take this as a token of the guilt I feel.

Love,

Elijah

Grace sighed after she read the note, caressing the words with her fingers deep in thought. What was this man doing with her? He made her question things she never would've imagine. Right now he made her question on whose side she was on in this. Grace knew that her siblings would never forgive her if they knew that she fell for Elijah. Their newly announced enemy. But Grace knew that he was anything but that. He didn't save Klaus to hurt them. Elijah did it to save his family.

She folded the paper and hid it in her shelf. It must stay a secret that she was involved with him. If she would ever see him again. But how should she explain the ring?

Grace slipped it on her finger and examined it closely. She couldn't dismiss it. Then she decided that she wouldn't explain anything to anyone. She didn't owe them and it wasn't their business where she got the daylight ring from.

Carefully she opened the curtains and hesitantly stretched her hand out. The sunlight warmed her skin, but didn't burn it. Relief washed over her. She couldn't live without sunlight. Grace loved it. It wasn't in her nature to be a slave of the night.

Her siblings clung to Grace's arm when they walked to the graves. She held a bunch of roses in her hands as the group of people got closer. The soil looked still dark, indicating that there were two more people buried her.

Grace had hoped that she wouldn't have to be here that soon again and mourn another family member's death. But fate wasn't in her favor right now.

Before she stepped in front of the graves, she handed the roses to the people around her and kept four for herself. She was the first one to say goodbye. Grace looked at the gravestones for a moment, her mind completely blank. She cursed herself for not being able to say something nice, or at least pray. It was like at her parents' funeral. Grace couldn't cry, she couldn't think, she just wanted it to be over soon. Shortly afterwards, she walked over to her parents' grave and also placed roses in front of their graves. A little smile tugged on her lips. If they had known what she had become...they probably would've loved her still.

Grace stepped aside to make space for her siblings wo were the next. She watched them. They were better at this. Tears rolled down Elena's cheeks, but she still managed to look strong and so did Jeremy.

Suddenly, Grace's vision blurred in front of her and she felt dizzy. She clenched her fists and concentrated in getting clear again. All of that strength she felt was numbed and the hunger burned in her throat. She hadn't gotten to ask any of the other vampires how often she should feed. Or better said, what should she feed of? She hoped the Salvatores had enough blood bags for her to store in her fridge.

But then, something she saw from the corner of her eye distracted her. It was just a blur, as shadow behind the trees. A shadow she felt drawn to.

Seeing that she wasn't needed right now, she turned around and walked into the woods, not sure what exactly she was looking for.

"Grace."

Elijah whispered from behind her. She turned around. His eyes were dark and looked so troubled, like he was afraid to look at her and see hate in her eyes. But she was far away from hatred.

"Elijah."

Grace leaned against a tree, just in case that she would feel dizzy again. She didn't want to worry him even more. He already suffered enough.

"I see you received my gift."

This smile Grace simply loved to see appeared on his handsome face and she quickly looked down to her hand, so she wouldn't melt right in front of him.

"Thank you."

He came closer to her and opened his mouth, but he was in a lack of words. It was obvious how guilty he felt. He didn't want to betray her, but he simply had to in order to save his family.

"...You don't need to say anything. I already know. I know that it wasn't your intention to put any of us in danger. I know that you hate your brother for turning me. And I know why you did this. No, I don't hate you. Yes, I understand why you did it. I actually knew beforehand but I didn't have to guts to confront you."

With those words, she took every question that flooded his mind and again she surprised him deeply. There was just one question left.

"How can you forgive me, Grace?"

He wanted nothing more than to touch her. But his hands were shaking, something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Because it wasn't you. You didn't kill Elena or Jenna and you didn't turn me into...a vampire. It was Klaus. To be honest I don't actually care if he lives or dies, I just want him to leave us alone. To live in peace. And I know that you want that, too, and that you're the only person on this planet that can convince him. That's why I forgive you. But the reason why I'm here and still talking to you is something else, you know why."

She admitted and looked down, but Elijah was now close in front of her and lifted her chin and leaned his forehead on hers. They both closed their eyes.

"Someday, when our families are save and healed, I want to show you the world, Grace. I live for a thousand years now and I haven't found sense in immortality besides from keeping my family together and again and again I fail. Together with you, I want to find out if there's another redemption right in front of me."

Grace smiled and squeezed his hands. This was definitely an offer she was looking forward to.

"But now is not the right time."

Elijah nodded agreeing. He was overwhelmed with joy that she forgave him. She surely had no idea of how much guilt it lifted off his shoulders. Still he felt guilty towards Elena and even slightly a bit towards the Salvatore brothers, but words couldn't describe how much he cared for Grace.

The dizziness again hit Grace and her legs grew wobbly as she swayed a little. Elijah quickly grabbed her by her waist to stabilize her and her hands shot up and clenched on his shoulders. He frowned and pushed her hair behind her ear. Her skin was still cold as it should be, so she wasn't bitten by a werewolf or something like that. But then realization hit her.

"You haven't fed since you were turned, right?"

Grace nodded and the guilt he felt for the Salvatores immediately vanished. They hadn't taken care of her. So deep into their own mess and revenge plans for his brother, they had forgotten about her. No one had taught her how she should deal with the bloodlust.

"Newly turned vampires need a lot more blood in the beginning to regain their strength, Grace. If you want to stay in control, you should drink a stable amount of blood every day. I'll bring you blood bags home, it won't take long."

He was about to lift her up and carry her home, but she quickly refused by lifting her hands.

"I don't want that my siblings or Stefan and Damon see you at home. They don't see the things as I do."

Elijah sighed and looked around, concentrating for a second. There was no one around she could feed off right now. He sighed and loosened his collar.

"You need to feed now. It won't satisfy you, but the dizziness will disappear."

The Original motioned for his neck and gently pushed her head in the right direction. She breathed heavily and her teeth lengthened, the veins under her eyes pulsating before she couldn't resist biting into his neck.

He was right, his blood didn't taste as sweet as a human's, but it still warmed her body and filled her with more strength. But then again their was this intimacy she felt when he fed off her, but it was even more intense. Her hands clawed into his shirt while he held her, gently rubbing circles on her back. When she was finished, they stared into each others eyes and Grace knew why she couldn't stay away from him. She was fallen for him, they had something Grace had never felt before. It only intensified with her turning.

But yet again, it wasn't the right time to be consumed by the lust they felt. Gently, Elijah stroked the blood away from her lips with her thumb.

"Please, immediately ask the Salvatores for blood bags. I'll teach you to feed of the vein myself...without hurting someone."

She shook her head, but before she could say anything, Elijah interrupted her.

"...I insist, Grace. I'll call you when I handled my brother."

Before he vanished, he kissed her on the cheek, leaving Grace completely speechless.


	16. Chapter 16

Grace stood alone in the basement of the Salvatore mansion. Memories of her when she freed Elijah from down here awoke. She had asked Stefan to leave her alone while she fed off the blood bags, because she couldn't use his help now. Grace didn't trust Stefan enough to be her advisor. Of course, he was nice and all, but after all, she trusted Elijah more in this. At least he had a thousand years of experience in this.

The newly turned vampire looked down into the freezer. It was filled to the edges with blood bags and the smell filled her senses. Still something made it dull...the missing heartbeat, the warmth radiating off the person. But Grace had to do it now. She already felt the strength that Elijah's blood gave her flow out of her system. So vampire blood was just a temporary option...even though it was quite hot.

Slowly, she grabbed one of the bags and ripped it open. The smell grew even more intense and her gums started to ache again. Her fangs pushed through and she held the bag to her lips and sucked it dry, trying hard to not spill anything. It wasn't half as good as fresh blood straight from the vein, it didn't warm her like that, but still it gave her new strength and she immediately felt better.

She tossed the bag aside and grabbed the bottle of booze that thankfully stood beside the freezer. There seemed to be someone else in this house that struggled with the blood, or why else would someone need a really old bourbon to drown their sorrows? Grace took a deep gulp, before she had to put it away because she heard rumbling coming down the stairs and Stefan's angry voice. What quarrel had the brothers now?

When she stepped outside the cellar room, Grace saw Stefan leaving in a blur. With a frown, she stepped in front of the cell that was build into the basement. The place that started the abrupt change in her life. She peaked through the little window and saw Damon sitting on the floor, his skin seemed to heal from a bad burn.

"What have you done?"

She asked with a raised brow and licked the last stains of blood from her lips. Damon just rolled his eyes and leaned back.

"What do you care, Gracie?"

Grace gave him a serious look.

"...I've been bitten by a werewolf. Which is lethal to a vampire."

Her eyes widened. She couldn't stand Damon, but of course she didn't want him dead. He had done so many atrocities she couldn't even imagine, but he was on his way to become a better man, it was obvious.

"Oh."

It was the only thing she could say. Of course she didn't know if there was a cure, but judging by his expression and Stefan's hurry, it didn't look very good for him.

"Right, oh. At least you're the first one that doesn't try to convince me that there's still hope."

Grace sighed and shook her head. She quickly grabbed the bottle of bourbon from the other room and handed it to him.

"You don't deserve this, Damon. Let them try."

He gave her a surprised look. Surprised because he never would've thought that she would be kind to him. They hadn't had a good start, but Damon noted, if he got out of this alive, he would treat her better.

"She's right, Damon. You don't deserve this. We'll find you a cure."

Stefan suddenly stood beside Grace with a determined look on his face. Grace admired this. Even though Damon had done so much to him, he still believed in his brother. She turned around to face the younger Salvatore.

"You need help? I've got nothing better to do."

He nodded thankfully and gave her a light smile. Together they walked up the stairs, ready to start their mission into the unknown.

The two exited the witch house after they spoke to Bonnie, sharing a devastated glance. What they just witnessed was creepy as hell, Bonnie being taken over by one of her ancestors. But what bothered them even more was that the solution to Damon's little problem laid in Klaus' hands. The person Grace never wanted to see again in her life.

"We have to tell Elena...in case she needs to say goodbye."

Grace sighed and looked away, not ready to put her sister in such danger. Stefan had informed her about what that bite could do to a vampire.

"Stefan, he could hurt her."

The other vampire nodded, but looked at the older Gilbert pleadingly.

"He loves her, Grace. And Elena cares for him, too. They both need that closure...if we don't succeed."

Again she sighed and shot him a glare before she gave in. They walked towards the town square were the screening of 'Gone with the wind' was held. Grace didn't want to ruin her sisters normal day, but she had no choice.

She lightly padded her sisters shoulder and she turned around startled. The newbie vampire still had to get used that not everyone had supernatural hearing and that her steps were quite more silent than before.

"Um, sorry, didn't want to scare you...Elena, we need to talk."

Stefan's and her serious expression gave them away immediately. Her sister looked at them with worry, it drove a deep pain through Grace's heart. It would break her heart if Damon died. They needed to find the cure.

The trio stepped a bit aside to not bother anyone watching the movie and out of hearing distance. Elena crossed her arms in front of her chest, her gaze moving back and forth between Stefan and Grace, probably confused what the two were doing together. She was right with that, Grace didn't really know the brothers. But Elena cared for them, so Grace would do anything to help them, too.

"What's going on?"

Grace's little sister asked impatiently when no one started to speak. The vampires shared a short glance and Stefan nodded shortly as he rose his voice.

"Elena...last night, when Damon helped Tyler and Caroline...Tyler started shifting and he..."

Stefan hesitated and Grace stepped in instantly, knowing that it was hard for him to speak the words aloud.

"...he was bitten. He's dying, Elena."

Elena's eyes widened and her mouth hung open, her face between confusion and processing. Loosing another loved one would be too much for her. Grace was sure of it.

"Then we need to find a cure, what are you waiting for?"

The older sister grabbed Elena's arm to keep her back. Anger passed Elena's features as she got out of her sisters grip.

"We're on something. But you should be with him, comfort him. Just in case..."

Again Stefan's voice nearly broke and Elena immediately stopped struggling. She seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation.

"I...um, I will go to him."

Grace looked at her sister with determination.

"Be careful, Elena, he's dangerous in this state."

Her sister returned the gaze, which made Grace relax a little.

"I will."

She quickly stormed off and Stefan and Grace were alone again. They shared another glance. Fortunately they had come around the explanation of where they were going. Elena would've freaked if she knew. Stefan quickly called Alaric and explained the situation, he was the only one who should know the whole story. He reassured them that he would keep Elena at the Salvatore mansion and watch out for her safety.

Both sighed before they started walking literally into the lion's den.

"So you must be Katherine."

Grace stared into her sister's doppelgänger's face and tried to keep her face as blank of emotion as she could. No one should know that she was scared like hell. They stood in the middle of Alaric's apartment. Katherine raised her chin and gave Grace a mischievous grin. It was clear that the women couldn't stand each other at first sight, especially after Grace found out what she had done to her sister.

"And you're the poor newbie vampire sister. Pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's not mine."

She shot the older vampire a sweet smile, before they suddenly heard steps coming from outside. Katherine grabbed them and pushed them to wall opposite, which made Grace want to snarl at the brunette and rip her dirty hands off.

"Klaus. You're back. Look who has come to pay a visit."

The doppelgänger spoke as Klaus entered the apartment. But there was a second pair of feet behind him. They stepped around the corner to see Elijah standing close to Klaus. Stefan send the Original a glare, but Elijah completely ignored it. His expression was filled with worry when he saw Grace here, way too close to Niklaus for his taste. She smiled at him a little to show him that she was ok.

"You just keep popping up, don't you?"

Grace rolled her eyes. This guy had the guts to have humor in such a tense situation. Klaus' look fell on her, he eyed her up and down and a shiver ran down her spine. She felt so disgusted and exposed to him. Again they were in a situation where Grace was in the subordinate position. She also could see how Elijah tried hard to keep it together and not punch his brother in his face for even looking at her.

"I need your help. For my brother."

Stefan stepped forward to get Klaus' attention and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Whatever it is, it has to wait. I have an obligation to my brother that needs my immediate attention."

Klaus walked out of their sight, but Stefan and Grace were distracted by Elijah moving closer to them. Elijah and Grace both tried their best to not show the others how deeply involved they were, so he kept his eyes on Stefan.

"You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here. My brother swore to reunite me with my own."

A smile tugged on Grace's lips. She really hoped he would see his family soon. They were precious to him. To be honest, she was quite curious to meet them herself.

But then, all of a sudden, Klaus appeared behind Elijah, a cruel smile on his lips.

"And so I shall."

With that, Elijah turned around to his brother, who stabbed a dagger into his heart forcefully, the smile not fading from his face. The brothers stared each other in the eyes as Elijah fell on his knees, his skin turning grey.

"NO!!!"

Grace screamed in horror. She was so overwhelmed, she forgot about their act of being neutral towards each other. Her emotions got the best of her, but she didn't care. With her enhanced speed she caught Elijah's body before he could fall to the ground and gently let him sink down. Tears blurred her vision when she touched his face, his head in her lap, as if it would keep him awake. His eyes fell shut and Grace panted. Katherine looked at her in confusion and shock, seemingly more surprised by the fact that Grace was involved with Elijah rather than Klaus stabbing him.

The tears quickly faded and Grace was flooded with hatred and anger. She didn't took her chances to remove the dagger, because something in her knew that it was senseless. But any reason inside her had vanished as the rage took over. For the first time in her life she wanted to kill someone. Grace bared her teeth, her eyes turning black and red, veins pulsating strongly around them. She let out a growl, before she all of a sudden attacked Klaus. From the corner of her eyes she saw that Katherine rushed to stop her, but it was too late, Grace already was tackling him to the wall. Her small fists slammed into the hybrid's face with a force that would have broken a human's bones easily, but he wasn't one. He let her hit one blow before this cruel smile was back on his face, his eyes gleaming in a golden tone. Klaus caught her hand before she could land another blow. Then, he turned them around, one hand grasped around Grace's slim neck. With all of her strength, she tried to fight him, until now she had no clue how strong an Original really was. He started to squeeze to a point where he nearly crushed her windpipe. She couldn't breathe, but still, stared bravely into the hybrids eyes.

Revenge was senseless, she knew that, but she wanted him to suffer.

"I just wanted to test a theory. It worked out the way I thought it would."

He pushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. If she could, she would've spit in his face.

"Klaus, let her live! She hasn't got anything to do with this!"

Stefan yelled at the hybrid, who just spared him a glance over his shoulder.

"On the contrary, Stefan, she's very much involved in this..."

He turned back to Grace and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"I will let you get away with this for once, love. But don't count on my generosity again."

Klaus let go of her and she sunk to the ground. She clutched her throat, trying hard to catch her breath. Grace, as clouded as her mind was, wanted to lunge at him again, but now Katherine was faster. She grabbed her by the shoulder and held her back.

"Don't be stupid!"

Grace ripped her hand of her shoulder and stared intensely at the doppelgänger, finally coming to her right mind again. She then looked at Elijah's body next to her, falling to her knees beside him. It was already too late, Klaus, Katherine and Stefan definitely knew. Grace stroked his soft hair as her body was shaking.

She only heard Stefan explaining what happened to Damon on the side. It was like everything had become dull around her. Grace only then realized what strong feelings she already had developed for Elijah. With her turning, they only intensified.

Of course she was still surprised when this cruel bastard bit into Katherine's wrist only to heal her with his blood. He surely enjoyed seeing the fear of death in his victim's eyes. Why had his blood the ability to heal a werewolf bite after all? There was nothing good in this man.

But what he did to Stefan afterwards made it even worse. He forced him to become what Stefan had left behind: a ruthless ripper. Klaus forced him to drink a huge amount of blood. Grace hadn't known about this side of Stefan's past, she never would've expected it.

The scent of all this blood drove her nuts, but fortunately, she didn't seem to be in Klaus' interest now.

"Do you care for a drink yourself, love?"

He addressed her and Grace shot him a glare.

"Go to hell."

She growled, but Klaus only laughed at her reaction.

"I take this as a no."

The hybrid turned his attention back to Stefan, whose face was already smeared with blood. Katherine and Grace shared a look. This wasn't good.

Klaus cut his palm and let his blood flow into a glas. Damon's cure. He walked towards Katherine and handed it to her.

"Take this to Damon. If I were you I would...hurry."

But she already had disappeared with the cure in her hands. Both Stefan's and Grace's eyes widened and Stefan started to shout. They both knew that Katherine wasn't under compulsion anymore, she would never get the blood to Damon. Now all this was senseless. It was over, Damon would die.

"Well, my two new friends, shall we go out of this crap town?"

Stefan stood and positioned himself in front of Grace protectively. He panted, all this blood, it was also too much for him. After all this time, it still seemed to be a problem for him.

"Leave her out of this. You already destroyed enough of her life!"

Klaus patted him on the shoulder and looked at Grace still sitting on the floor beside his brother. This was Klaus' perfect revenge for what Elijah attempted to do.

"She's part of the bargain, Stefan. Get up, Grace."

He strutted to the younger woman, who looked up to him with pure hatred in her eyes, but she obeyed and got to her feet, staying as close as possible to Elijah's body. She knew that she had to do everything he wanted from now on. She knew what he wanted in return for Damon's life.

"It's your choice, dearest Grace. You either come with me, or I'll go straight to Damon and take his life."

Of course Grace had no choice. Even though it would ruin her life, she wouldn't let Damon die, even if it would rip her off her own free will.

"I will come with you."

Stefan looked at the oldest Gilbert in surprise. Never before had he seen such a selfless act. She was handing her life, her dignity over for a person that she barely knew.

Klaus smiled happily and walked towards the door.

"What a good girl you are, little Grace."


	17. Chapter 17

"You're particularly enjoying this, aren't you?"

Grace said through gritted teeth. Klaus had slung an arm around her waist. It looked casual to the outside, but actually it was a death grip. One wrong movement of hers and some bones were broken. Or his nasty hybrid teeth were closer to her neck than she wanted to.

"I actually do. A beautiful girl in my arms, a warm night. Quite romantic, isn't it?"

Klaus smirked devilishly. Two months had passed since Stefan, Klaus and Grace left Mystic Falls and travelled the state to find werewolves. For their newest lead they were somewhere in Tennessee.

"A girl that doesn't belong to you, to be precise."

She shot him a glare and moved uncomfortably in his grip while they walked towards the cozy the little house where their targets lived.

"Don't worry, my brother won't be mad for borrowing you while he's in his slumber."

Her hand clenched into fists when she was remembered of the fact that Elijah was dagger in a coffin god knows where. Grace missed him and her family badly. She couldn't sleep at night because the thought of them tormented her.

"You have no idea how disgusting you are. Can't you finally take your hands off me?"

The hybrid chuckled and Grace wanted nothing more than to punch this grin off his face. But she couldn't. Her free will had been taken two months ago and she was probably never getting it back.

"Not to sound homophobic or anything, but I think it would look rather stupid if I'd do this with Stefan. So stop complaining and do as you're told."

Before she could answer with a snarky comment, one of the girls stepped out of the house. She was calling for her dog, when Grace and Klaus suddenly appeared in front of her. The young woman gasped startled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you."

Grace rolled her eyes at his very bad fake accent.

"Um...Can I help you?"

The girl looked the strangers up and down warily. Before Klaus could open his mouth again, Grace elbowed him slightly and he let go of her with a glare and she stepped forward, a friendly smile on her face.

"Our car ran out of gas a couple miles back. God, we're so happy to see you, this is the first house for miles...would you mind of we use your phone?"

Her face grew a bit more soft, she seemed to buy it.

"Don't you have a cellphone?"

Grace shrugged and chuckled.

"Battery died. Of course. Really, we aren't serial killers. It won't take long, I promise."

The lie slipped over her tongue easily. Over the last few months she got smoother with every lie she told.

After a short pause while the girl thought about what to do, she sighed and turned around.

"Yes, alright. I'll get the phone out for you."

But before she could walk inside, Klaus was in front of her and compelled her to invite them in. A look of fear spread on the girl's face, she had no clue what was happening. Those were the worst. This fear on their faces, it made Grace a tad bit colder on the inside with every time she saw it. The fake smile dropped out of her face and it turned emotionless.

"Well done, Gracie."

Klaus whispered in her ear before they stepped inside the house.

Some hours later they were in a shabby bar which reeked of cheap whiskey and sweaty men. Having heightened senses had its disadvantages.

Klaus and Stefan send Grace in first. Now she played her other role, she had learned to its best during the summer: the sexy, seductive girl at a bar.

Grace took a seat next to Ray, the wolf they had been looking for and ordered a drink. She felt the glance he was sparing her. He looked her up and down, pausing shortly at her deep cleavage. To stress it even further, Grace stroked over her collarbone and smiled.

"Rough place for such a beautiful lady."

She chuckled and drowned the bourbon.

"Oh, believe me, I'm not a lady. More of a monster to be honest."

The vampire licked her lips. By now Stefan should be ready compelling all the other guests and Klaus would make his entrance soon.

Ray looked at her more closely. His senses had been clouded by her looks, but now he smelled that she wasn't human.

"You're a bloodsucker."

He hissed and he was about to fight her, when Klaus appeared from behind him and pulled him back onto his stool.

"Is that a way to treat a lady, Ray? You know, I think Grace here is willing to forgive you if you tell us where the rest of your pack is."

She flashed Ray a smile before taking a bottle of whiskey and looking for a lonely to seat to drown her sorrows on her own.

Shortly after Ray was chained to the wall, darts were sticking out of his head and chest and Stefan was adding more and more to them while Klaus and Grace watched. She forced herself to look, even tough her whole body tempted her to simply go. But she couldn't. The smell of blood drove her mad. Those were the two things that she still didn't get along with: Torturing people and her lust fro blood. She knew that Stefan struggled with the same, but she had no clue how he could do all of this. The way he drank...how he ripped those people apart...it still horrified her. Grace herself hadn't fed off a human since she was turned. She hid it quite successfully from Klaus that she only drank from stolen blood bags. Or he didn't care.

Ray seemed to be a hard case. Even with all the wolfsbane in his system, he still didn't give in. Wolves were pretty loyal, Grace admired that. Vampires seemed to be quite different. A lot had changed since she was turned into one. She felt it. Her morals had shifted immensely and sometimes loneliness didn't seem that bad anymore.

A girl walked up to Klaus and ripped Grace out of her thoughts when she whispered in his ear.

"I have an information for you...A friend saw this guy Damon near the farm house."

Both Grace and Stefan's eyes widened and they shared a worried look. Stefan walked up to Klaus, both trying hard to keep the not caring look on.

"My brother is still on our track?"

Damn, how stupid could someone be? Surely Damon had a death wish, that was his own decision, but with his behavior he would attract Klaus' attention towards the fact that Elena was still alive.

"Yes, I think I have to take care of that now."

Klaus wanted to storm off, but Stefan stopped him, to which the hybrid looked at him in question.

"No, let me handle it."

"...Let us handle it."

Grace chirped in, implying that she wouldn't let Stefan go alone, but Klaus completely ignored her.

"What will guarantee me that you'll come back?"

The hybrid lifted his brows.

"You know I'll come back. You saved my brother's life, so me...and Grace are in your service."

Now Klaus rolled his eyes annoyingly.

"That sounds so tediously like business...aren't you having the least bit of fun?"

He motioned towards Ray who was groaning in pain. Blood ran down his forehead and Grace swallowed. She was hungry. It must've been a week since she last fed.

"I'll make sure my brother stops looking for us."

Stefan padded Klaus' shoulder and walked out of the bar. Grace wanted to follow suit, but the hybrid grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She struggled against his grip, but he only grabbed her harder. A little bit more and her bones would crush.

"...To help Stefan stop Damon. Honestly, I can't be in this place anymore. It's smelling like very old men. Oh yeah, I forgot, I had to spent two months way too close to a way too old man!"

Grace hissed. In the beginning she had been afraid of Klaus, but that quickly had disappeared. She still was cautious because he could kill in her in an instant, but she was sure that he wouldn't dare to. She exactly knew why.

"Stefan can take care of this on his own. You're my insurance that he'll come back."

She chuckled amused and finally he let go of her.

"As if he'd care enough to come back for me. My sister's dead, he has no reason to protect me. He'll come back because he owes you, nothing more."

Klaus strutted towards Ray and freed him from his chains, only to push him to the pool table. He pulled one dart out of him, only to sting it into the wolf again. Grace flinched because of his brutality.

"Believe me, you're wrong. Stefan feels guilty for what happened to you and your sister, that's why he won't stop begging me to let you go."

Surprise hit her. Stefan and Grace hadn't shared more than five words in the last few months. Never would she had imagined that he'd care about her freedom.

"...How pathetic, if we remember that the only one who's responsible for that is you."

Her words were cold as ice, but Klaus didn't bother. This devilish smile was back on his face as he continued to torture Ray.

"So much tension in here, we should loosen this up. Grace, don't you want to have a snack?"

Klaus motioned around the room that was still filled with living, breathing people. Her nostrils filled with the smell of their blood and her ears could her their heartbeats easily when she was reminded of that.

"Thanks, but no, thanks."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. The hybrid lifted his gaze and met hers. He let go of Ray and strutted towards Grace and came to a halt right in front of her in an really uncomfortably close distance. She urged to step back, but she kept her ground and stared in his eyes.

"Do you really think I haven't noticed that you haven't had anything stronger than a bag of O-positive in the last two months?"

Now she looked away. Grace really had hoped that he didn't care. But it was foolish. He had forced Stefan to so much atrocities, why should he let her go with her blood bag diet?

His attention shifted to a girl that was serving tables. He grabbed her and pulled her close, cupping her face with his hands.

"Don't scream, love."

Klaus compelled her before he turned the blonde in his arms and bit into her neck. A drop of blood flew down her collarbone and Grace couldn't force herself to look away. Her fangs pierced her lips and she felt the veins around her eyes pulsating. It took all of her self control to not go right at her neck.

The hybrid pulled back, his eyes gleaming golden, his mouth smeared with blood. He looked at Grace and pushed the girl towards her. She caught her before she could fall, but now the blood was so close to her. Her throat burned and everything in her screamed at her that she should just drink. That there was nothing wrong about it.

Walking behind her, Klaus whispered in her ear.

"Come on, Grace. You're so hungry. You need this to survive."

Grace panted when Klaus pushed the girl's hair away from her neck. This wasn't how she was supposed to learn how to feed. She would kill her, she had no control over herself when she was near blood.

"Drink, Grace. You have no choice."

His hand rubbed over her back and anger raged through her veins, but it pushed her over the edge. Her mouth lowered to the girl's neck and her fangs teared through the already open flesh. She was right, she couldn't stop. When the blood touched the tip of her tongue, the darkness took over her. It was just like the first time she fed, the hot red liquid ran down her throat soothingly. The reason why should ever stop vanished. She didn't care for that moment. The only thing she wanted was to have more.

At some point, there wasn't more to drink. She had drained the girl of blood. Realization hit her and Grace stepped back, the corpse of the girl falling to the ground lifelessly.

Grace covered her mouth with her hand and the blood smeared onto her palm.

"What a good girl. Do you feel better now?"

She turned around to Klaus. The rage was back into her. It was hate. She hated him. Never before had she felt hate, but Klaus took it to a whole new level.

"I killed her. Klaus, I killed her!"

The young vampire pushed against the hybrid's chest, but he only smiled down to her.

"What do you care, love? It's in your nature to kill humans. Compared to us, a human life means nothing. You finally have to understand that."

She shook her head and tears blurred her vision. Something had died within her. She had killed someone. She was a murderer now, nothing better than Klaus.

Grace stormed out of the bar into the backyard and fell to her knees. She knew she couldn't just go, even if she wanted nothing more than that. Especially not now. She missed her family like hell, but now she was a killer, she couldn't look them in the eyes anymore. And she surely disappointed Elijah. He had wanted to show her how to drink without killing, but now that she had tasted human blood from the vein, she couldn't imagine how it was possible.

Hours passed and she had no clue how long she was sitting there, crying and breathing heavily, fighting with herself to not simply turn her emotions off. But there was some damage done that was beyond repair. The coldness and darkness that had taken a death grip on her became stronger.

Stefan stormed out of the bar and came to a stop in the middle of the backyard. He didn't seem to notice Grace, he was probably too distracted. Grace started to understand his actions more and more.

What surprised her was that he took out his phone and dialed a number. But what shocked her was that Elena's voice sounded through the speaker shortly afterwards. Stefan didn't say anything, but Elena seemed to feel that it was Stefan on the line and started to speak. She told him that she would save him and Grace. How foolish of her. They already were gone, there was no saving for them.

The vampire ended the call and tears streamed down his face. Grace stood up and walked towards him.

"I miss them, too."

She whispered and hugged him tightly.


	18. Chapter 18

Not long after, Stefan, Klaus and Grace were hiking up the mountain. Stefan was carrying Ray's dead body over his shoulder with an annoyed look on his face.

They heard voices in the distance, probably the werewolf pack Ray belonged to. He finally had spilled the beans about their whereabouts shortly after Stefan and Grace had recovered from the emotional breakdowns and went back into the bar to a very satisfied Klaus who had just broke the werewolves neck after feeding him his blood.

The trio plus the soon-to-be undead companion arrived at a clearing where around a dozen of wolves feasted before their group turning. Grace shivered slightly at the thought of so many lethal fangs near her. Stefan also looked very uncomfortable.

He dropped Ray's body to the ground, getting the attention of all the people around them. Their eyes widened in shock when they saw their pack member dead on the cold ground.

Grace stood a bit away from the action, leaning against a tree and watching the scene cautiously. She had no real part in this, she was simply on the lookout for any sneak attacks. Even tough Klaus didn't need any protection of course, she made it her habit to always have an eye on any dangerous situations.

Her rage towards the hybrid hadn't faded and even tough she was forced to obey him, Grace always took her jobs seriously. A strange protective instinct towards Stefan and Klaus had developed inside her. They never spoke much, but still she had got to know them very will. Their habits, what they liked to eat, Klaus' paranoia, Stefan's ripper problem...It was dysfunctional, but in some kind of way they had become very well working partners in crime.

"To whom of you belongs this one here?"

Klaus pointed towards Ray and a young woman Grace's age rushed forward and screamed the wolves' name, kneeling beside him and shaking him, trying to get him awake.

"Don't worry, love, he'll wake soon. But as someone new, improved. He died with my blood in his system."

He smiled devilishly when the crowd around him whispered ‚the hybrid'. Klaus surely loved the attention to which Grace rolled her eyes.

"I will kill you!"

The girl mumbled and tried to lunge at Klaus but Grace was in front of her within the blink of a second, glaring coldly at the wolf. Of course she understood why she wanted to kill him, Grace herself would've loved to rip his head straight off, but as former mentioned, she took her job seriously.

"He will kill you, darling."

Suddenly, Grace was behind the wolf girl and held her with a harsh grip, showing her off to Klaus who smiled at the vampire. Stefan stood by and tried to hide his mixed emotions. Never would he admit it, but Grace being so unpredictable sometimes scared him. But then he noticed how alike they were, he had changed a lot into his old self, too.

Klaus' eyes gleamed golden again when he bit into his own wrist and pressed it onto the girl's mouth, before Grace took it for herself to break her neck. The second kill she did today. Surprisingly, it got easier with her emotion partially pushed away.

The wolves around them growled, but didn't dare to make a move, knowing that even tough they were counting a higher number, they didn't have a chance against this deadly trio.

„You're staring to become an awesome assistant, Gracie. Watch out Stefan, she's going to outmatch you. She finally got it in her stubborn head how this world works."

Grace shot him a glare and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Can't you just shut up?"

Before Klaus could comment on her remark, Ray woke up with a gasp. He panted and looked around confused, probably not even remembering that he told his enemy where his pack was. Poor boy.

"Welcome back, Ray. Well, who of you is human and may lend a vein to your friend?"

The wolves shared worried and shocked glances, but slowly all they eyes concentrated of a young man standing in the middle of the crowd. He had a frightened expression on his face, but took his courage and bravely stepped forward to help his friend.

Ray couldn't resist and bit into his wrist and pulled away gasping shortly after. It remembered Grace of her own turning. She knew how luring the urge to drink the blood was. How euphoric it felt at first, but how devastating it was after some minutes passed.

The transition seemed to work, as now Ray's fangs appeared and his eyes were shimmering golden.

Soon after, all the wolves laid on the floor after Klaus had fed them all his blood and Grace and Stefan assisted him to kill them all immediately, not letting them suffer for long. Grace still couldn't feel the joy Klaus seemed to feel while slaughtering the wolves.

One by one, they woke up and fed on the now deadly pale human. But as the last completed their transition, strange symptoms erupted within the first. Ray and the girl sad on a fallen log, both pale, with deep blue rings under their eyes, sweat covering their foreheads. Both shivered heavily and looked at Grace pleadingly, but of course she couldn't help them. Stefan, Klaus and her stood in front of them with frowns and confusion written over their faces.

"Have you felt something similar after breaking the curse?"

Grace asked, lightly touching Ray's forehead to check his temperature. Even tough he felt so cold, he was actually burning up.

"Not really. I never have felt better before."

She nodded while she looked around uncomfortably. The other newly turned started pacing around with their heads faced downwards. A shiver ran down her spine, she felt like she was in the middle of an episode of ‚The Walking Dead'. Actually the hybrids were as undead and as bloodthirsty as the walkers were and their bites were similar poisonous.

"Klaus, we should get outta here."

Grace turned towards the hybrid, but suddenly she was pushed backwards and onto the floor. Ray was on top of her and luckily Grace's reactions were supernatural, so she could grab the hybrids face before he could bury his teeth inside her flesh. Damn, he was strong.

Suddenly, he was gone and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Stefan struggling with him now. Stefan screamed when Ray got to bite into his wrist and then, the hybrid ran off into the woods.

She was grabbed by Klaus' strong hands and pulled to her feet, as she still gasped for air.

"What a nasty bite...now go, Stefan, get him back in line."

Both Grace and Stefan looked at him unbelievingly.

"It will kill me if you don't heal me."

Stefan said through gritted teeth, examining the wound. Klaus just smiled.

"I would hurry then."

The vampire glared at the hybrid before shaking his head and disappearing. While the trio argued, the girl that Grace had killed first had managed to escape, too. Grace cursed and wanted to go after her, but was stopped by Klaus grabbing her. The second time this day.

"Will you finally stop doing this, or next time I'll chop your dirty hands off."

Grace said angrily. She couldn't bear Klaus handling her like a child anymore.

"I dare you to try. Where do you think you're going?"

He let go of her shoulder, but Grace wasn't up to end the discussion.

"I will go after her, before she will go all on zombie mode on humans. No, not because I care for their lives, but because it will drive unwanted attention towards us."

Klaus sighed and looked around, having a watchful eye on the rest of the pack, so no one else would disappear, too.

"You won't go, end of story."

Something clicked in place inside Grace's head. She understood now we he had behaved in this oddly protective way towards her. She chuckled to which Klaus frowned.

"You don't do this because you're afraid that I will flee, you know I won't. You're afraid that those abominations will get me killed and you'll have to explain this to a seriously mad Elijah. Even after all his time, you're afraid that he'll abandon you forever. That's why you dagger him and keep me around, you want to protect me."

He gave her a death glare, Grace definitely hit a nerve. She was absolutely right with what she said and it was so crazy, so stupid of him that it was actually funny. But her laugh faded and she stepped closer to Klaus, looking him right in the eyes.

"Look, Klaus, I'm not your little princess that you can handle like a puppet. I don't need protection, especially from you. I made a deal with you to protect Damon and I'll fulfill it, but nothing more. Honestly, if you want to do something good to your brother, undagger him and leave us alone."

Silence erupted because Klaus was speechless. It didn't happen often that someone stood up to him like that. But Grace disappeared shortly after, because she knew that it was senseless. of course he wouldn't undagger Elijah just because she told him so.

What she discovered when she hunted after the hybrid made her heart stop. All of a sudden, she saw her sister and Alaric running down the hill. It had already gotten dark and they were probably fleeing from the two hybrids on the loose. Grace cursed Elena's stupidity and followed them. She had to be careful not to be bitten, she didn't want to give Klaus the satisfaction of needing to heal her.

The group reached their car which was parked in a clearing. Dumb move, the hybrid had a lot of advantages here. But Grace had, too. All of a sudden she appeared behind the girl that was still in her human form and ripped her heart out in a swift movement. Klaus would be beyond mad because Grace killed one of his precious hybrids, but her sister's life was of course more important than avoiding one of Klaus' outbreaks.

"Grace?"

Elena whispered. For a moment, Grace allowed herself to check if her sister was ok, but she but on a cold expression. It made Elena flinch, it proved that Grace acted well enough. The vampire elegantly stepped towards her sister, the bloody heart in her raised hand, so it wouldn't stain her exquisite clothing.

She came to a halt in front of Elena and looked at her cooly. Elena tensed in fear and Alaric stepped forward to stop Grace from hurting her sister, which spread a deep pain inside Grace's heart, but she hid it perfectly.

Still void of emotion in her face, Grace dropped the heart at Elena, who instinctively stepped back in disgust, but the bleeding organ landed in the middle of her chest onto her tank top.

Elena looked like she was about to puke and shock was written all over her face.

"Stop looking for us. There's nothing to be saved."

Before she disappeared again, he spared Alaric a glare who obviously failed at his task to protect her.

Grace came back to an even more gruesome scene which immediately distracted her from her hurt feelings and ripped her out from her homesick thoughts.

Stefan let the corpse of Ray fall to the ground while Klaus watched sitting on a log.

"...in the end, they were all dead."

She noticed the dead bodies splattered around them. They all died, no hybrid survived. Something was seriously wrong.

Suddenly, Klaus jumped up and threw a beer bottle to the ground so it shattered into pieces.

"I did everything I was told! I killed a vampire, I killed a werewolf, I killed the doppelgänger..."

The realization hit both Stefan and Grace hard. The doppelgänger was alive and well, both of them had just seen her. Just Klaus himself didn't know.

He continued to yell and scream and Grace could even see tears in his eyes. She learned another thing about him today: he was doing this because he was lonely. It all fitted together perfectly.

"Klaus!"

Grace was the first one to snap out of the shock. She said his name softly calm him and stepped towards him. But he just continued.

"Damn, it Klaus!"

Now her voice raised and seemed to get through his thick skull he turned around and looked at her helplessly.

"You want to be the king, the big bad hybrid, then act like it! What use is it to scream like a maniac? It doesn't let you seem strong, believe me. Either you accept the fact that you can't turn them, or you'll try to find another way."

He suddenly stood still when he heard her words. She surprised Klaus again. There wasn't any hatred in her voice, she really wanted to help him.

"Now finally heal Stefan. Because if you haven't noticed so far, we're the only ones that still stand by your side...forced or not."

It worked. She finally talked reason into him and he fed Stefan his blood. Grace took a deep breath and was relieved that they were going back to the hotel they would be staying in this night. What a crappy day. Another sleepless night in front of her.


	19. Chapter 19

Grace sat on the floor in a warehouse in the middle of Chicago and stared at a coffin. What a lovely view. Unfortunately it wasn't Elijah's. Klaus and Stefan had left her on watching his damn sister wake up.

Of course Klaus couldn't stop himself from giving her a subtle warning. His trust was surely something she would never really earn. Rightfully so.

"Don't waste your time trying to find your beloved here. He's somewhere else, far away from your sneaky little hands."

She memorized the words he spoke with a cocky grin.

Before they came here, they were at the bar of some witch whose name Grace already had forgotten again. The elderly woman had babbled about a talisman and that Stefan had history with Klaus and his sister back in the 20's. It was all way to confusing for her, so she zoned out quickly, bewaring herself from a throbbing headache from all this nonsense.

But now the boys were back on witch-business and Grace was alone to keep Klaus' baby sister in check. However she should defend herself against an angry Original...She would have to talk reason into the girl. Which wouldn't be an easy task as she probably was stabbed for a century now.

While she sat there, she thought about the hybrid's method of terrorizing his own family. How horrible it must be to be taken down like this. Immortal, but still vulnerable to their brother's wrath. Decades, centuries taken from them. Grace hoped Elijah wasn't suffering in this state. He hands started to shake by the thought of him. She missed him by her side badly. He would've known what to do, like he always did.

Standing up, she checked on the guy Klaus compelled to be his sister's snack. Compulsion was another topic. Grace hadn't learnt it until today, no one had ever bothered to show her how. She had tried herself, but failed miserably.

Grabbing the man's shoulder she looked deeply into his eyes and tried to mimic what Stefan and Klaus did when they compelled humans. She could still remember how horrible it felt when she got everything back in transition, so she actually felt pretty bad that she even tried.

"Go to the door and back."

Her gaze was intense and she stretched her willpower as much as she could, but something inside her resented it. She just couldn't. Sighing she turned around as the guy's pupils didn't dilate, he just looked at her confused.

Fortunately, she was ripped out of the awkward situation when she heard a groan coming out of the coffin. Finally the girl woke up, Grace was sick of sitting there alone.

Unsurprisingly, the younger Original didn't seem to be in her best mood. Suddenly, the coffin was empty and Grace was pinned to the ground. The face of a snarling blonde beauty hovering over her, grabbing her by her throat, ready to rip the younger vampires head off.

"Who are you?"

She growled angrily, the veins around her eyes still pulsating. Grace coughed as her hand started to squeeze, but she wasn't afraid. Klaus wouldn't have left her there if he wasn't 100 percent sure that his sister wouldn't dare kill her immediately. Well, and maybe he finally learnt his lesson that Grace could look out for herself.

Grace patted the blonde's hand so she could speak. Glaring at her, she released her grip a little.

"I'm Grace, nice to meet you, too. Your brother told me to wait here until you wake. I'm not your enemy here, take your understandable rage out on him, please."

She shrugged the Original off and jumped to her feet afterwards. The girl's expression was confused, trying to take everything in. Grace then had the time to look at her clothing. She wore a beautiful flapper dress with fitting jewelry and a head band that held her messy curls in place. A little pain pinched the vampire's heart when she remembered how long it had been since she had gotten a look at a proper history book.

"...nice dress."

Grace added and got the sister's attention back. She flashed a little smile and then looked down herself, before examining Grace's clothing with a look of slight disgust on her face.

"Time's changed I see. How long was I out?"

A shiver ran down Grace's spine. It was so gruesome. She had to tell her that she nearly missed a whole century.

"Around ninety years judging by your style."

Grace swallowed thickly, feeling sorry for the girl. She couldn't imagine how this must feel.

"This bastard. I'll rip him to shreds."

Her gaze was filled with rage again, emotions were easily readable on her extraordinary face. She would need some time to get herself together, even if it wasn't her style to flip right in front of someone she didn't know.

"We can think about a revenge plan later. You must be hungry."

Grace pushed the man towards the Original and the blonde's eyes were fixed hungrily to his neck. But she spared the younger vampire a thankful glance before she bit down on him.

She drank until the poor guy dropped to the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

"I'm Rebekah, by the way."

Her face was smeared with blood now and her eyes their dangerous and arrogant gleam back. Already bored after she fed enough, she took a seat on her coffin.

"You still haven't answered my question of who you are. By that I don't mean your name, I probably won't memorize."

Grace couldn't help but smile at her snarky comment. She already liked Rebekah. That girl definitely could kick ass. Taking a seat next to her on the wooden coffin, she watched her feet dangle down while she spoke.

"Got into your brother's business. Can't tell that I regret the reason, but it still sucks."

She smiled slightly at the thought of Elijah, but then the image of how he fell to the floor with a dagger in his heart made it fade quickly.

"Are you Nik's girlfriend?"

Rebekah's head shot around, again this look of disgust visible on her face. A hearty laugh raised in Grace's chest, but she tried to hold it back, which made it only worse. She looked at Rebekah funnily before she burst out laughing to which the Original glared at her annoyedly.

"Sorry, the irony is hilarious. No, Klaus is actually the person on this planet I loathe the most. He sacrificed me and my sister on a blood altar to become a bloody hybrid. Then he forced me to be his sidekick. Because your other brother cares for me."

The confusion in the blonde's face was back as she processed everything. Now it was her that snorted chuckling. How long she had to help Klaus finding a doppelbitch and this stupid stone. And now she was dagger while he finally broke his curse.

"Elijah...where's he now? Is he here talking reason into Nik?"

Grace sighed and clenched her fists. She could barely talk about what happened to him.

"He daggered him right in front of me. See, Beks, I want my revenge as much as you do. But I figured it's quite senseless when it comes to your brother."

Rebekah's hands also clenched when she heard the news. How dare he dagger Elijah, too. He was becoming more lunatic by the second.

The younger vampire explained everything Rebekah had missed, including everything about the ritual, Grace being the doppelgänger's sister up to Klaus looking for his hybrids.

"Well, I guess if we can't go full on revenge, we should at least have our fun with him, shouldn't we?"

A grin spread on both the women's faces. This was the start of the prefect partner-in-crime relationship between Rebekah and Grace.

When Klaus entered the warehouse again, he found Grace laying on the floor, her eyes closed, her neck twisted. Panic flooded the hybrid, he rushed to the girl. She shouldn't die on his watch. Elijah would rip him to shreds, literally.

He shook her by her shoulders to make her wake up, but before he could even listen for her heartbeat, he was pinned to the coffin standing next to them. Rebekah was in front of him, shoving her dagger inside his chest. She knew that it wouldn't affect him, but at least it would hurt a little. Klaus groaned and looked at his sister shocked, only to be surprised by Grace suddenly standing behind Rebekah, chuckling and smiling sweetly at him.

"Fooled ya."

She said as Rebekah shoved the dagger a bit deeper into his chest before stepping back. Klaus quickly removed it and shot a death glare at Grace. He should make her pay for this.

But he had to take care of his little sister first. He let the dagger drop the ground and grabbed her by her shoulders, which she only shrugged off and continued to walk away from him, which hurt Klaus feelings deep inside him.

"I understand why you're angry. But I hoped you could let it go this once. Brought you a little peace offering."

He motioned towards Stefan who now stood next to Grace. She frowned, wondering what was going on here. When they were at the witches place, she heard that they had history, but she didn't know about the extent.

"Stefan..."

Rebekah gasped. Klaus walked towards the younger Salvatore and looked him in the eyes, compelling him. Still Grace found it frightening that it was so easy to compel even vampires for an Original.

"I want you to remember now."

Realization and confusion both rushed over Stefan's face when he looked at Klaus and then at Rebekah. He remembered that they were friends now. But he didn't feel anything more when he looked at the blonde. She probably hadn't meant that much to him as the girl thought.

Rebekah stepped towards him, smiling like a lovesick fool, but Stefan didn't return the smile. Everything fell out of her face when disappointment took over her. Grace felt even more sorry for her and she interrupted the scene. She linked her arm with Rebekah's and started to walk out of the warehouse with the blonde.

"Come, it's time for you to be introduced to 21st centuries clothing."

The Original didn't struggle and just lifted her chin, understanding that Grace wanted to save her from making herself a fool in front of Stefan. She was thankful for that, not that she would ever admit that, but Grace understood it without words.

"I think we created a monster here."

Klaus chuckled and tapped Stefan's shoulder in pity as he followed behind the girls.


	20. Chapter 20

The group had moved to a foolishly expensive shop with brands that Grace liked and thought would suit Rebekah. But the Original insisted on browsing through the clothing on her own, so the younger vampire just shrugged and stood back with Klaus and Stefan. Rebekah actually seemed to not believe that what Grace was wearing was the current style.

A waitress came by and handed the men glasses of champagne. Klaus threw the young woman a wolfish grin to which she handed him the whole bottle. Grace just rolled her eyes and stepped towards the hybrid.

"Give me that damn bottle."

He chuckled amused, but handed her the sparkling liquid, of which she took a deep sip.

"Still drowning your sorrows?"

After placing the bottle on the table, she shot him a glare and didn't answer anything. He surely set a snarky comment in motion, but he was interrupted by his sister coming out of the changing room.

"There must be more to this dress."

She looked at herself in the mirror and then turned around to face the others, looking at Grace in question.

"There isn't."

Grace motioned for Klaus to make space for her and when he did, she seated herself next to him.

"So women today look like prostitutes?"

Then, the hybrid did something surprising. He seemed to be angered by his sister's comment.

"Does Grace look like a whore to you?"

He said through gritted teeth, his temper raised. Grace shot him a confused gaze, to which he just shook his head and patted her shoulder.

"No one insults my hard working minions, not even my sister dearest."

Stefan's gaze turned suspicious and also Rebekah gave them a funny look. The oldest Gilbert felt really uncomfortable about this, but she was now sure that the hybrid seemed to appreciate that she had his back. Not that she looked for his praise, but it maybe would help him get off his paranoia.

"Thanks."

She said shrugging. When Rebekah turned the attention back to her, Grace was honestly relieved. As much as she liked Stefan, she knew that he couldn't be trusted. It was driving her nuts that he knew about her caring for Elijah, too. If they ever would get back to Mystic Falls, the risk was high that he would spill the beans to Elena.

Grace was caught between so many fronts. At some point she would have to choose sides.

"Well, whatever. Do you like it?"

Rebekah directed the question towards Stefan, it was obvious. Meanwhile, Grace tried to fetch the bottle of champagne again, but Klaus caught it before her and held it away for her. The hybrid seemed to be a little less grumpy today, which Grace simply allowed herself to enjoy.

"Um...yes, I like it."

Stefan said pretty unconvincing, to which Grace rolled her eyes and Klaus shot him a glare. He should learn some manners. Grace stood up and looked Rebekah up and down, taking matters into her own hands.

"You can screw those opinions. The dress is something to dance on tables in a dirty bar with, surely nothing you intend to do, because you're a lady. We'll find something better."

She went on her mission to find her something suiting and was successful. Handing her a pile of clothes, she waited in front of the curtain.

"Nice one, Gracie. Now it'll take forever until we get out of here."

Grace showed him the finger, but laughed while picking out some shoes.

"You stabbed a dagger into my heart and let me rot for a century, have some patience."

Klaus just rolled his eyes and continued sipping from his glas. After some minutes Rebekah came out again, now a satisfied grin on her face.

"You're more useful than I thought, Grace. We should be friends."

She twirled in front of the mirror and decided to simply buy everything Grace had suggested her. Grace would be more than happy to find something like a friend among all this brutality. Rebekah actually seemed to be a nice person if she wanted to be.

"How unfortunate that I can't shoot myself."

The hybrid muttered, but a little smile tugged on his lips.

Some time later they were back at the witches place. The woman tried hard to find the necklace and, luckily for Stefan and Grace, she didn't have any success by now. Both of them had figured that it must be the necklace Stefan had given to Elena they were looking for. But it was their mission to keep the hybrid as far as possible from the doppelgänger.

Rebekah stood up and offered the witch to channel her in order to find her necklace. The Original wanted it back for her own reasons. It was the last piece of remembrance she had from her mother.

The elderly woman frowned and concentrated more, she seemed to have found something. Klaus, Stefan and Grace stepped forward, eager to know what she was seeing. The younger vampires shared a worried glance, having no clue what would happen if Klaus would find out that Elena was still alive. He would surely just kill them all, because Elena's existence was probably what kept him from making more hybrids.

"I see a girl with her friends..."

"...Yeah, a very dead girl with dead friends if I don't get my necklace back."

Rebekah hissed, standing up from the table she sat on. Klaus expression darkened, he wanted nothing more than to find the trinket.

"Can't you get something more specific? Like an address?"

Klaus interrupted before the witch could say anything. Strangely, her eyes flickered to Stefan nervously from time to time which made Grace even more worried. She needed to do something.

"I need more time. And space. You're ruining my juju."

The hybrid prepared a threat, Grace could see it in his eyes, but she stepped forward and patted his shoulder.

"It's getting a little tensed here, isn't it? Maybe we all should get some fresh air."

Thankfully Stefan also got the hint and joined the younger vampire.

"...I'll let you pick who we eat."

The Salvatore said with a grin and Klaus finally was convinced. He gave the witch a warning glare before he followed Stefan and Grace out together with his sister.

A short walk and a visit to a dark alleyway later, the vampires had gotten themselves a group of girls to feed on. Klaus, Rebekah and Stefan were cheerfully drinking, while Grace just sat there and stared at her untouched victim that had been compelled to not make a sound.

When Rebekah finished her drink, she just looked at Grace with raised eyebrows.

"Why isn't she drinking?"

With golden gleaming eyes, Klaus let go off the neck of the girl he was feeding on.

"Drinking problem. She can't stop feeding and feels guilty afterwards."

Grace sighed and shot a glare towards the hybrid who only laughed.

"Guys, I'm actually sitting here, I can hear you and speak for myself."

She stood up and wanted to leave, but Klaus stood in front of her suddenly, blocking her way.

"Do you think Elijah would be happy if you let yourself starve?"

Clenching her fists, she tried to get around him, but he was really pushing it. Anger rose up inside her and with the heightened force, it could consume her. Sometimes she couldn't even trust herself anymore.

"He can't be happy, because he's rotting in a freakin' coffin!"

Klaus grabbed her wrists, to which she struggled, but of course he wouldn't let go. He stared into her eyes to intimidate her.

"Feed, Grace."

His hands nearly crushed her bones, but still, she tried to resent him. She was sick of letting her life be controlled by him.

"I said feed!"

Klaus voice rose until he yelled at her, his expression going savage. For a long moment she just glared at him. When the veins around her eyes started to appear, he let go of her and Grace rushed to the girl and bit into her neck harshly. Of course she couldn't let go. All those emotion took over her again until she just felt coldness. She only came back when the girl's heartbeat stopped.

A fake smile creeped on her face, before she curtsied in front of Klaus, sarcasm dripping out of her every move, trying to provoke the hybrid before she took off into the city.

It had gotten dark before Klaus found her. She sat on the roof of one of the less high houses, looking down to the people walking Chicago's busy streets. Rooftops had always been her hiding place. She enjoyed overlooking everything, but still being completely on her own.

She had no clue how Klaus found her here, probably sniffed her out with his damn hybrid nose, but he appeared next to her all of a sudden.

"Still mad?"

He said like he actually felt sorry for forcing her to feed. As if. Grace knew better than to think that he actually cared. Maybe in some twisted way, he really wanted to keep her safe for his brother, but it got too much for her. She didn't need someone to do it. Right now she wanted nothing more than for him to disappear.

"I'm not mad, Klaus. Damn, I don't even really hate you, but your face disgusts me more with every day passing."

A mixture of emotion was visible on his face, which was as rare as explosive. Grace had learnt that it could quickly fall over the edge and right into one of his massive blowups.

"And here I thought we could become friends over time."

Her head turned to look at him, anger prominent in her troubled dark eyes. He had this talent for boiling her short temper within seconds. But she believed the feeling was mutual.

"Friends?! Have you become senile over your thousand years of lifetime? Klaus, you killed both my sister in me on a blood altar. You daggered Elijah. You robbed me of my freedom. Honestly, there's no chance of us becoming friends. Never. And I'm immortal now, so never is a really long time."

She snarled at him before looking at the crowd under her again. The memories she brought up made tears come to her eyes but she blinked them away before he could see them.

"I see..."

A growl raised inside her and she had to close her eyes for a second to not loose it.

"No, you don't. I know I've been trying to be nice to you, I work together with you and all...To be honest I just want to get along with you. If I don't I'd drift even farther away from sanity. The point is, I'm becoming someone I can barely recognize as myself and that's something I can't blame on you. I'm just a coward who can't let go off the things that keep me here. And because of that, because of Elijah, I can't hate you. Really, it would make things so much easier. But you can be sure of something, I won't try to kill you. Even if I could."

Something grew soft in Klaus' face and Grace took a deep breath, her anger replaced by sadness. She stood up and wanted to leave the roof, but she turned around one last time before she jumped off.

"But be sure of something. I'll get my revenge. It's very easy, I just have to sit back and watch. You're doing that all on yourself right now."

Silently, Klaus joined her on the journey back to the warehouse where he left Stefan and Rebekah. Surprisingly, he didn't rip her head off or hurt her in any other way. She made him think. Reflect on the things recently.

With every time Klaus looked at Grace, he saw all the guilt that was buried deep inside him in front of him. It was sadistic, but somehow he needed to be remembered of it every day. A life he had destroyed completely with his own hands.

"Nik, he's been asking about Mikael. He's not on our side."

Rebekah said immediately when Grace and Klaus entered the warehouse. Grace shot Stefan a glare. What had he done to make Rebekah suspicious? Was he really that stupid to let his guard down? Ripper Stefan was such a fool. He thought he was clever, but he surely wasn't.

"She's wrong...Klaus."

With the look he gave the hybrid, Klaus was immediately convinced that Rebekah's senses were right. Even Grace could see the lie on his face. It was over, all the cover they had built up. It was going down the deep end. The only thing Grace could do was playing innocent.

But fortunately Klaus didn't care about her at that moment. He rushed forward and snapped Stefan's neck who fell down in front of her feet.

Grace looked down to him unimpressed, she didn't even flinch, having her emotions back in check.

"Oops."

She said with a shrug.

Gosh, I really miss Elijah in this :(


	21. Chapter 21

Grace sat on the passenger side of a truck Klaus drove, while she stared right out of the window with a cold expression. Rebekah sat beside them and just couldn't shut up. It made a huge pain form in Grace's head, but she didn't let them get a glimpse at her emotions for now. She needed to be more careful with what she showed them or not, because she was in a pretty tricky situation. The young vampire had no idea where they were going and judging by how she knew Klaus, he wouldn't spill the beans.

"Oh come on, Gracie, I know this look. Don't play emotionless, it doesn't suit you."

He interrupted his sister mid sentence, implying that he hadn't listened to any word she said. Maybe he was as annoyed by her chatty nature as Grace was.

"Maybe I'll show you some warmth if you tell me where the hell we're going."

Grace said without sparing a look at him. She tried to distracted herself by watching the nature flying by as they drove, but her mind had particularly changed since she was a vampire. Her brain seemed to have developed many more cells, because she could concentrate on so many things now. Her mind was always racing, calculating, sensing, feeling everything around her. It was exhausting but still it was unbelievable how much vampirism extended her brain function.

"You'll know when you see it."

Klaus smirked to which Grace only rolled her eyes. Him playing mysterious was so damn ridiculous.

"At some point you'll have to tell me your story, Grace. I still can't really understood why you're so important."

Rebekah chirped in with a frown on her face, obviously annoyed by the fact that the attention shifted away from her. Her rude straight-forwardness made Grace chuckle, because she knew that the Original was honestly wondering about that and not meaning it as an insult.

"That's pretty easy. I was a normal college girl until your particularly handsome brother came into town and charmed his way into me to get to my sister, who I found is...or was...the doppelgänger. Then your less handsome brother came here, too, killed me and my sister on a blood altar and stabbed Elijah right in front of me. Afterwards he threatened me and Stefan to find him some bloody dogs. And now I'm here with you."

The blonde laughed slightly and nudged Klaus who threw Grace a grim look. He sighed and drove into an empty and abandoned looking parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Rebekah and Grace walked some steps to stretch their limbs, while Klaus opened the back of the truck to reveal a still knocked out Stefan in the middle of four coffins.

A shiver ran down her spine when she noticed how close to Elijah she had been all the time. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as she watched how the hybrid broke the vampire's neck again.

"Is this really necessary?"

Klaus looked up to her with a smirk on his face. Grace jumped into the truck in one swift motion, her eyes fixed on the coffin that stood in the front. She knew that Elijah was in this one, she felt so drawn to open it. There was this special connection between them that never seemed to fade.

"That's what happens to people that betray me. He's lucky that I still need him. Usually I would've ripped his heart out immediately."

The hybrid spoke, but Grace didn't listen. She knelt in front of the coffin and carefully opened its lid. Klaus watched her warily, but granted her this moment.

She simply needed to see him, having no clue how to survive another second if she didn't have a remembrance for what she kept her humanity. He looked so peaceful, except for the sickly grey skin. His eyes were closed and the memory of how he looked at her lovingly crossed her mind and made her shiver. She missed him so much. He would've known what to do, as Klaus was so close to figuring out that Elena was still alive.

It was silent for this short time. Both Mikaelson siblings stared at what happened right in front of them and both of them realized that there were true feelings involved.

Grace caressed the soft skin of his cheek and placed a faint kiss on his forehead while she whispered.

"I will see you soon."

In that moment she knew she would. She had no idea why she assumed that, but hope rose inside her.

Sometimes even she found it strange how strong their bond was. They didn't really know each other, most of their relationship was built on a lie and they only had shared one short kiss. But for Grace this kiss meant everything. She had forgiven him and he wanted to be there for her in her darkest hour. Never before had she felt something like that.

The soft thud the lid made while closing, shattered Grace's heart into pieces, but she contained herself quickly. Months of training to shut the emotions from coming to surface had its perks. Standing up, she turned around to Klaus and Rebekah. They both showed slightly different emotions. While Rebekah gave the younger vampire a little, warm smile, showing that she had a soft spot for that kind of love, Klaus had something on his features that Grace had never seen before on him: a hint of guilt. She stared into the hybrids eyes meaningfully, before she shrugged and sighed.

"Can we finally continue our way to god knows where?"

Grace hadn't noticed that she dozed off until she woke up with a gasp. The blonde beside her had shaken her awake. Quickly, she took a look around and noted that they were still in the truck, but now Grace couldn't recognize in which part of the states they where. The vegetation had gotten a bit greener, but it still could've been nearly anywhere.

"Wake up sleepy head. We're close to our goal."

"...close to home, Gracie."

Just when the hybrid corrected his sister, a town's sign flew by.

Mystic Falls, Virginia.

Grace couldn't keep her facial expression from falling apart. Her eyes widened in shock and her hands clenched into fists. No. This couldn't be real. If it wasn't for a stupid coincidental wonder, Elena would dance in front of Klaus' damn hybrid nose any second now. He would kill Elena, and herself probably, too. And Grace had no chance to warn anyone.

"I hoped you would be more cheerful to see your hometown again, Gracie. Your little brother's here, all your friends and I have to admit this place has quite its charm. I also want to test a little theory here..."

Klaus stopped the car in front of the school and before Grace could rush out of the truck and flee, he was in front of her and grabbed her upper arm. She knew that escaping was senseless, so she gave in into her fate. For the first time in two months she was afraid of something.

Of course her sister was right there, walking around the school happily together with Bonnie and Caroline. Alive and well.

"Well, my dear, what do we have here? If my memory services me right, your little darling sister is supposed to be dead."

His voice was dangerously calm. He was so close, invading her personal space heavily. Grace breathed heavily, having no clue what to do. He would kill her sister in cold blood again and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Have at it. Kill me because I betrayed you, what do I care?"

The fear was suddenly pushed out of her and replaced by a terrible anger. She looked the hybrid right in the eyes, to which he only laughed.

"Such harsh words. I'm actually hurt that you lied to me, too, like Stefan did, but I'm a grateful man. I understand why you did. From now on, you do as I say or I will take more drastic measures, that will include setting this whole town on fire with your siblings in the middle of it, understand?"

Grace shot him a confused look, but nodded. How could he give her another chance? Why did he actually trust her?

But before she could think about it more deeply, he ordered Rebekah to stay with Stefan, while he dragged Grace inside the school. They stood inside a dark hallway, waiting for Grace's sister to walk in and it all worked out perfectly. Smiling, Elena came in, but bumped into Klaus' chest.

"There's my girl."

Her smile dropped as she looked at the hybrid in shock.

"Klaus..."

She whispered to which he grinned viciously.

Elena turned on her hell and ran the opposite direction, only to be stopped by her sister. Her dark eyes bore into Elena's, whose only displayed the pure look of betrayal.

"I'm so sorry, Elena."

Before her sister could reply anything, Klaus had grabbed her arm and dragged her with him. Grace walked with some distance behind them, not able to look Elena in the eyes. Pain rose inside her and she wished to simply disappear.

Soon, they stood in the middle of the gym. Klaus had turned Tyler to have leverage on the group, to make Bonnie find a way to save his hybrids. Grace could only sit on the bleachers and watch from afar. Those were all kids she knew since they were babies and now they were dying like flies. Because she was useless. She couldn't protect her own family.

After Rebekah disappeared with Tyler's corpse behind her, Klaus took a seat beside Grace. He said nothing and both of them stared at Elena who stood in the middle of the field, afraid and lonely.

Suddenly, Stefan showed up and situation tensed.

"I'm here to ask for your forgiveness. I don't care about Elena anymore."

The doppelgänger flinched, even tough it was so obvious that Stefan was just bluffing. Grace sighed when Klaus held his hand out for her to lead her down the steps. She ignored his outstretched hand, which seemed to annoy him shortly, but he let her go with it.

"Fair enough. Let's have a drink on it. Grace, why don't you and Stefan help yourself with these two?"

He motioned for Chad and Dana and Grace immediately felt sick. She knew she had no choice to prove to Klaus that she would be loyal to him. But it was also her punishment. The kids were innocent and her already tainted soul would get even darker.

"No, no! Don't do this, please!"

Elena looked pleadingly and Stefan and Grace and then Klaus did something to provoke the matter any further. He slapped Elena right across the face which pushed both vampires over the edge. Rage boiled inside her, but instead of attacking Klaus like Stefan did, she rushed to her sisters side and checked if she was ok. The doppelgänger held her head in pain, but she didn't seemed to be badly hurt.

While the men struggled with each other, the sisters shared a long glance and Elena started to understand. Grace cared. She still had her humanity and she wanted nothing more than to protect her and Jeremy.

"I said kill them."

Klaus compelled Stefan and again fear ran through Grace's veins. She needed to obey know. It couldn't happen that Klaus would start to compel her, too. Her family would be without any protection if he did. In addition to that Grace would rather kill herself than to be Klaus' completely will less slave.

When he looked at her over his shoulder she rose to her feet and shot her sister an apologetic look before she felt her fangs pierce through her gums. She lunged at Dana and killed her quickly, so she won't feel the fear anymore.

Afterwards, it was quite more easy for her to be cold again. No tears wetted her cheeks, she was void of all those emotions to protect herself. Klaus smiled at her satisfied.

"Gracie, be a good girl and look how the witch is doing."

Grace walked towards Klaus and stopped when she was beside him and whispered into his ear.

"If you lie a finger on her, I'll find a way to make your life a living hell."

His smirk grew wider, but Grace ignored it as she went out of the gym, keeping herself busy with using her senses to find Bonnie and Matt. Bonnie wasn't currently in the school, but she was probably just off to get her grimoires. But Matt's quickened heartbeat was close to her in the swimming pool.

Blood still stained Grace's mouth and neck when she walked inside. Matt stepped back with a feared expression on his face. Rightfully so. Grace was a monster now, not just Elena's creepy older sister.

"Why are you doing this?"

He asked, his deep blue his angry.

"I could ask you the same."

With a raised eyebrow, she motioned for the thick belt and weight he carried with him. Matt sighed and placed it all on the ground.

"I...I need the help of Vicky...she can help me figuring this all out, she has a connection to the Original witch or something. For that I need to able to see her...like Jeremy can."

Within the blink of a second, Grace stood close in front of the younger boy, daring him to elaborate.

"Jeremy can see the dead? How, what happened?"

Worry took over her. She had missed so much. Anxiety was prominent, the feeling of not knowing what had happened to her little brother was horrible.

"He...um...when Damon was ill...Sheriff Forbes accidentally shot him...since then he can see ghosts."

It was obvious that he was damn intimidated by Grace. But she didn't care much about that. Her brother had died and Grace hadn't known. For the whole summer she had this strange feeling inside her and now she knew where it came from.

It took her for the moments for the shock to sink in before she could contain again. She looked the quarter back up and down.

"And you're stupid enough to drown yourself so you can see your dead sister."

Matt nodded and turned to the pool.

"Are you helping or not?"

She shook her head violently and pushed him back by his shoulder.

"Matt, I know you since you're a kid. I won't let you drown yourself and stand by."

With disgust in his eyes, he stared at the dried off blood in her face.

"Well, you probably just fed off one of the people you know since they're kids. So let's say we're even."

Guilt pounded in her chest hardly and she instinctively wiped some of the blood away from her face.

"Bonnie will find another way, Matt. You don't have to do this."

He shook his head with a groan of annoyance.

"Bonnie just called me. Klaus gave her a deadline. If we don't figure something out within the next 15 minutes, Klaus will let Stefan kill Elena."

A deep growl rose inside Grace when she heard his words, her hands clenched into fists. A new shade of hatred for Klaus rose inside her. She remembered that she told him that she did not hate him, but today he ruined everything.

"This bastard..."

"We don't have time, Grace. Just get me out and bring me back."

Before Grace could stop him, he jumped into the water and sunk to the ground. The vampire paced up and down the room, waiting until the bubbled of air he produced stopped coming to surface. It was another thing added to the now long list of the most horrible moments in her life.

She threw her phone out of her pocket and dove into the water to release the young man. It was easy with her heightened strength, but still, Matt was dead for now. Quickly, Grace bit into her wrist and fed him her blood.

"Come on, Matt!"

Nervously, she began the CPR, hoping that her vampire blood would heal him quicker with that. At the same time, Bonnie rushed inside, looking at her with shock on her face.

Grace didn't have her strength under control and she felt some of his ribs crushing under her hands, but she couldn't care less.

Relief washed over her when Matt suddenly woke up with a gasp.

"I saw Vicki."

The group rushed outside the room and into the hallway, discussing what they should do now.

"She said the doppelgänger prevents Klaus from making more hybrids."

Her hair and clothing clutched to Grace figure. She couldn't freeze anymore, but it still felt quite disgusting.

"Intersting..."

Klaus suddenly stood right in front of Grace, this arrogant smile back on his face. How much she would've loved to rip his head off. Instead, she glared at him and positioned herself protectively in front of Matt and Bonnie.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

Grace hissed and Klaus looked down to her. Sometimes he admired her bravery, but not today.

"You know what, Gracie, you honestly get on my nerves today."

With one swift motion he grabbed Grace's head an broke her neck. She fell to the ground lifelessly.

Klaus had carried Grace inside the chemistry room and placed her next to Tyler, who was gasping and sweating. She woke up to Klaus arriving back again, now a vial of blood in his hand. The sweet smell hit her nose and she would've loved to rip it from his hands.

Instead, he offered it Tyler, stating it was Elena's blood with which he wanted to test a theory. They all watched with confused gazes as Tyler swallowed the warm, red liquid. He fell to the ground screaming in pain. That was exactly what happened to the other hybrids they tried to turn, but the aftermath was quite different: The wolf rose to his feet again, his eyes gleaming golden, resembling Klaus.

With that, the second true hybrid was born.


	22. Chapter 22

"Elena."

Grace was the first one to speak after they all stood frozen to watch Tyler's transformation. Rebekah let go of Caroline, who immediately rushed to her boyfriend's side.

"What have you done to her, Klaus?"

When Klaus didn't shift his attention towards her, she growled and pushed against his chest. He only smiled down to her and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Nothing, darling. Seems she'd been the key to all this for the whole time. Thanks for keeping her alive. Now, come, we have things to do."

The hybrid grabbed her wrist and walked out of the class room with her. She grew really annoyed by being dragged around like a little child today, but that was something representative for the amount of respect he had towards her.

"She's my sister, Klaus, I won't let you hurt her."

Grace hissed, finally getting out of his grip. Rebekah joined them in the hallway.

"I expect nothing less, from now on, your sister is the most important woman in my life, no pun intended. She'll have a bunch of bodyguards around her."

Rebekah let out an offended sound, but Klaus ignored it. He really had the audacity to joke around. Grace really wasn't in the mood. Usually she would just shrug his comments off and reply with something more snarky, but when it came to her sister's safety, there was no place for humor. What ever kind of judging little bully Elena could sometimes be, never would Grace stop caring for her or Jeremy.

Grace knew Klaus ways of 'keeping someone safe' and it worried her madly. She didn't want Elena to become his blood stack slash prisoner. Sighing, she just shook her head. There was nothing she could really do against it, so she hoped Damon or Stefan would help with this matter. But from what she saw and heard, Stefan was far beyond being helpful.

Shortly after, the three of them were in the parking lot of the hospital, where Elena was recovering from Stefan's bite. On the outside, Grace was calm, sitting next to Rebekah on a car and staring up into the cloudless sky, but on the inside she was boiling with anger. She looked for any opportunity to distract herself from wanting to rip Stefan's stupid head off. Klaus told her about what happened back in the gym, but she already had so many reasons to want him dead, so it was Stefan that was putting her over the edge. She always had thought that beyond any kind of compulsion, the younger Salvatore would always protect Elena. But now that help was gone, too.

Staying close to the two Originals helped her distract herself the best, because they were so goddamn annoying sometimes. They just wouldn't stop quarreling, which made a headache form in Grace's skull.

"I won't let you go with her, Klaus. You'll have to step over my very dead corpse to do that."

She shot the hybrid a glare who only rolled his eyes.

"As much as I would miss your company, love, that's honestly not that much of a problem, isn't it?"

They fought a staring contest. Over time Grace had figured how senseless it was to attack him, she could only beat him with cleverness. But to be honest it wasn't clever to try and fight with an Original, it was better to have them in the friends-corner. Even tough that wasn't possible with Klaus.

"I don't want to travel around with that doppelbitch, Nik. Can't we leave her here, where she's far away from getting in my way?"

Klaus growled at his sister to which Grace only shrugged.

"She actually has a point. But please, stop calling her doppelbitch, she's my sister after all."

The younger Mikaelson rolled her eyes and dropped out of the conversation. Klaus stepped closer to the car Grace sat on and he looked up to her, the younger vampire not moving an inch to continue their little pissing contest.

"Think about it, Grace. She's not save here, you know that better than myself. How long until she's ending up dead?"

Grace stared at him intensely. He actually had a point. Caught up between all this mess the Salvatore's caused, the only way to protect Elena was getting her out of this. But it was against her will, which she couldn't accept. She had blamed Elena for making Damon compel her, so she couldn't do it herself now.

Still, better a mad sister, than a dead sister.

"Come on, wouldn't that be fun? You, Rebekah, Tyler, Stefan and me. All one happy family."

"...until we start ripping each others throats out."

She added to Klaus' cheerfully spoken sentence. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention to his sister who only smiled wickedly at their bantering.

"Rebekah, why don't you get the ruck. I want to get the hell out of this crap town."

With an eye roll similar to Klaus', Rebekah got down from the car she sat on and walked back towards the school to get their truck. Sometimes the siblings were just so alike, not that one of them would admit, but Grace saw it. They loved each other, despite being dysfunctional for a thousand years.

Grace stayed behind with Klaus to get Elena. The vampire grew more nervous by the second, an interfering of a certain Salvatore brother would come in quite handy now. Sighing, she jumped up from the car, too, just as Damon arrived at the parking lot. Impeccable timing. Him being missing for the whole day meant that he was planning something. It was probably stupid and suicidal, but helpful after all.

"Look who finally decided to come to the party."

Klaus voice had a tone Grace had learned to grow cautious of. It usually occurred when he was ten seconds away from ripping someone to shreds.

"Where is she?"

Damon shot an enraged glare at Grace, scolding her for not protecting her sister. But he was so wrong. She did try everything she could, she just did it more clever...and slightly differing from the Salvatores hypocritical ways.

"Oh, she's making a donation for the greater cause."

His sarcasm pushed the older Salvatore over the edge. He looked like he wanted to punch Klaus' grin out his face, but before he could reach the hybrid, Grace was in front of him and placed a hand on his chest to hold him back. Damon stared at her, loathing for the sister of the girl he loved prominent in his eyes. Since she was a vampire she had seen that look quite often. Things had changed.

"Don't be stupid. He'll kill you."

She said calmly, sending him a warning.

"Are you his bodyguard now?"

Behind them, Klaus lost his patience and stepped closer do Damon and Grace.

"You know what, Gracie, I should probably kill him now that his brother doesn't care this much anymore."

Before grace could interfere, the hybrid pushed Damon against the hood of a car and held him down by his throat. Klaus' arm lunged back, ready to smash hard into the younger vampire's chest to rip his heart out.

"Klaus!"

Grace screamed, trying to stop the hybrid, but he just shrugged her off.

"Don't you want to know about your friend Mikael?"

Damon panted, stopping his enemy in his tracks. Klaus looked at him with wide eyes which made Grace frown. He actually looked afraid. Something she had never seen before on his face.

"What do you know about Mikael?!"

He said through gritted teeth. Grace walked closer, confusion clouding her mind. Who could the great Klaus Mikaelson be afraid of? She had heard this name yesterday for the first time when Rebekah referred to him, but never would she have guessed that this name had a certain impact.

"Just that he knows you're here. Katherine and I found him. Consider that leverage."

A growl deep down from his chest made Grace shiver, but luckily before he could take out his rage on someone, Klaus disappeared, leaving Grace and Damon alone. The Salvatore brother slid down the hood, gripping his probably damaged throat. Grace looked down to him with a frown. Again she had been completely right about his kind of plan. Stupid and suicidal, when it came to even Klaus being afraid of someone.

"What have you become, Grace?"

Damon said, shaking his head in disgust. She sighed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. He was right, she was something entirely else now. The point was, that she couldn't say that she missed being human. Killing people had made her dark and a spot in her heart had grown to stone, but at least she could still made rational decisions, which was something the Salvatore men couldn't, considering their fighting over Elena's heart.

"I'm doing what's best for her. You know, Damon, there was a time I thought you'd do the same. Protecting her, not caring if she liked your ways or not. But that seems to be over. Just an advice: You can't get into her pants if she's dead. Well, except if you're necrophilic. Ew."

Grace shuddered by the thought and made a funny face. She had no idea how she could joke in this situation, but sarcasm was obviously a matter of self-protection. Stretching her hand out, she helped the other vampire to his feet. Her words seemed to have hit a soft spot.

"Now go and get her. I'll be home."

They both nodded before Grace walked off into the darkness.

Before Grace went home, she had one thing left to do at school. She hoped she would meet Tyler and Caroline there. There were some words left to be spoken to the newbie hybrid.

Fortunately, she was lucky enough to still find them there. They were walking side by side through the hallway of the school. Before Grace could approach the couple, Tyler suddenly grabbed his girlfriend and kissed her passionately. The blonde giggled and returned the kiss.

Quickly, Grace disappeared behind a locker to not interrupt their moment. She smiled, these two were really cute. The vampire was pleased that Caroline had found her fair share of happiness. She had grown a linking into the blonde.

When they were done and continued to walk holding hands, Grace stepped out of her hiding place and approached the couple. They both stood still when they saw her, confusion written on both of their faces. Caroline even stepped back, which hurt Grace a little.

"What do you want?"

She said, disappointment and anger obvious in her voice. Grace sighed and came to a halt.

"I don't want anything, Caroline. I just want to warn you two. Especially Tyler. Please, pack your bags and leave. You're not safe near Klaus, believe me."

Her hands started to tremble a bit, the amount of exhaustion caused over the last two months crashed down on her. It hadn't been a long time away from home, but it felt like forever. So many things had happened that were just too much for her. Half a year ago, she would've laughed anyone in the face who would've told her that she'd become a blood sucking, murderous vampire.

Caroline's face grew a bit softer and she nodded thankfully. The blonde nudged her boyfriend so he would do the same. But he didn't. A hint of determination was on his face. He wouldn't leave. But at least she had spoken out her warning. She didn't care if he'd tell Klaus. Grace turned around to leave.

"Thank you, Grace."

Caroline whispered. Over her shoulder, Grace flashed her a smile before she continued on her way.

When she arrived home, the house was quiet, but she could hear her brother's steady heartbeat. Elena seemed to be still at the Salvatore's.

"Hey."

Grace said when she entered the house and found Jeremy on the couch, watching television. His eyes went wide as saucers when he saw his older sister. But despite all the others, his first emotion visible on his face when he saw her was relief. It made her melt. Her little brother must've been suffering for the whole summer, being not sure if he would ever see Grace again.

"Hey."

His voice was barely a whisper. This was so much more than a greeting. They had one of their secret little conversation going on. One gaze said more than any word could state.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. You, too?"

"Yeah. I'm going to bed, alright?"

He nodded and Grace couldn't help but step towards her brother, particularly slow to not accidentally scare him with some vampire attitude, and kissed him on his cheek. Jeremy smiled and granted it to her. Usually he would playfully shrug her off, embarrassed of his overprotective sister.

It was one of these moment where she really noticed how vampirism had changed her existence. Of course her capability of killing and torture people scared her shitless. But when she was close to her little, fragile brother, hearing his heart pumping blood that screamed for her to feed on, she could feel nothing but pain. The next thought was, that Jeremy wasn't that little anymore. He was growing into a man right in front of her eyes. If she wasn't stupid enough to get herself killed in the feud between the Salvatore's and the Mikaelson's she would also have to see him grow adult, then old and see him dying. It was the same with Elena.

She shifted her eyes away, feeling an immense pain in her chest, so she quickly disappeared, arriving in her bedroom way too fast to be human. Grace couldn't allow herself to break right in front of her little brother. She needed to be strong for him.

The vampire quickly wiped the upcoming tears away, trying hard to get back into control. She couldn't show weakness to anyone. The only person she could trust to tell about her darkest thoughts was locked away in a coffin.

Some minutes later, she laid into her own bed for the first time in two months. She was surprised by how much comfort it gave her. It still felt like home in here, something she had missed dearly. She wasn't to keen on staying in Mystic Falls forever, she didn't love the town, but her family was here. Grace had a task here.

Home is where the heart is. It would take long to repair her shattered heart, but the first pieces were getting back together.

She slipped into sleep fast. No tossing and turning, no guilt, no crying. Finally a restful sleep.

Grace stood in the middle of a room full of vintage furniture. It was dark, just the fire crackling in the chimney lit the cozy room dimly.

There was someone else in here. From an armchair facing the chimney, she heard calm breathing and a slow, but steady heartbeat. It was too slow to be human, so it must've been a vampire's.

Carefully, Grace sneaked closer to see who had invaded her dream.

"Elijah."

Her voice was filled with surprise and joy swelled inside her. She knew that it wasn't real, but it felt so close. It was surely more than a dream.

The Original vampire sat in the armchair right in front of her, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows while a book was placed in his lap. When he saw her, his dark brown eyes showed a glow similar to Grace's. His lips parted. They took a moment to just stare at each other.

With a thud, the book fell to the floor when Elijah stood up. His strong arms wrapped around her small figure, pulling her close to him. Her head rested on his shoulders and she allowed herself to be consumed by her emotions. Tears wetted the soft fabric of his shirt and he lightly stroked her hair and rocked her slightly to comfort her. Grace was right. He was the only one she could truly open up to.

"How is this possible?"

She spoke after she got to keep back the sobs in her throat. Her head lifted to look him in the eyes.

"I don't know...Maybe...maybe my body is close to you and our bond is strong enough to connect our minds from time to time."

Grace had no clue what he was talking about, but she was simply happy that she could see and feel him for a short while. It was hard for her to truly understand the amount of psychic power vampires could use and the Originals had even plenty more opportunities.

She just sunk back into his embrace, not caring much for words anymore. He felt so warm. The raising and falling of his chest while breathing calmed her deeply. But when her gaze shifted through the room they were in, she saw that Elijah probably wasn't as calm as he seemed all the time. Some of the furniture was broken, books laid splattered around with their pages open and some were even ripped. Like he tried to destroy everything when rage took over him.

Again she looked up and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"Elijah, I'm so sorry. What you have do endure in here...but I...I can't free you. Klaus won't let me get near your body without observation."

He shook his head and squeezed her small shoulders gently.

"No, don't try that. Niklaus will kill you. Please, Grace, you have to promise me that you won't get yourself in danger."

A little bitter smile rushed over her facial features. It was ironic. For the whole time he was gone, she was in immediate danger, but now was not the time to tell him how far the manic ways of his brothers went.

It was then when something in the dream changed. Elijah's touch faded, she could still see him, but couldn't feel or hear him anymore. She screamed and tried to reach out for him, but it was of no use. The dream was ending and Grace was sucked back into reality.

She woke up in her bed, panting heavily and her dead heart racing. Pain burned in her heart and again there were those unshed tears trying to escape.

But there was something that woke her up. The annoying, shrill sound of the doorbell had triggered her sensitive senses.

When she jumped out of the bed, she noticed that it was already morning, even tough in her dream it had felt like she had been there for mere minutes.

Arriving downstairs, still in her pyjama short and top, she saw Elena having already opened the door. Her sister must've arrived later in the night. The younger Gilbert flinched when she saw who had been ringing. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her older sister standing near the stairs with a frown on her face.

"It's for you, Grace."

Elena said in an annoyed tone and stepped back into the kitchen. Grace stepped towards the door and shot the person standing outside a glare.

"Hello, love. We have a mission to attend to."

Klaus grinned cheekily.


	23. Chapter 23

Klaus and Grace spent another week with hiking up mountains and stomping through swamps. It really started to get on the younger vampires nerves and also Klaus was in his worst mood since he found about that Mikael-thing. He already spilled the beans towards her that he was his father, which was a fact that Grace had to process. Those were shocking news, but she was way too much distracted by fighting herself through werewolves that she could really think about what her sister and her friends wanted with a deadly Original-vampire hunter that was magical enough to hunt his own children down.

"Klaus, why are we actually doing this? You're referred as the unkillable, badass hybrid, that everyone is afraid of. Yet, we're here, hiding like cowards."

The hybrid growled at her annoyed comment to which Grace rolled her eyes and looked down to the pile of dead werewolves. Poor things. A human girl sat close to them and shivered with wide, frightened eyes. She panted and sometimes a whimper escaped her lips.

"First, we're not hiding, we're building an army. Second, I ran from my father because he has a weapon that could kill me, a weapon that, by the way, could also kill my siblings which includes your boyfriends. So it should be of your best interest...can't you just shut that thing off?"

The girl had started to scream like a maniac. It was a sound that made Grace go nuts, but she couldn't shut her up without killing oder seriously injure her.

"Can't you just compel her?"

Grace mumbled through gritted teeth, turning away from Klaus to hide her embarrassment. But of course he stepped closer to her with a frown and grabbed her shoulders to turn her around.

"Do it yourself."

He ordered, but Grace looked away sighing before shaking her head. Klaus would probably see it as disobedience, but better that than if he knew how pathetically she lacked mind control skill. But of course he had to be smarter and look right through her.

"No one has taught you how yet, right? Poor thing. What a pity that I don't have time for this..."

The Original let go of her and strutted towards the fearful young woman. He forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Sweetheart, please let my friend here get a bite off you."

With his index fingers he motioned for Grace to come closer. Even tough she would've loved to punch him right across the face for that disrespectful gesture, she obeyed and stepped closer. She already had learnt that it was a waste of time and energy to go on her heels against Klaus.

Sighing, she flipped the girl's hair over her shoulder and stared at her neck. She saw a vein pulsating through her thin skin and without thinking, she bit into her hard, her blood flowing messily over her chin.

Without warning, Klaus shoved her backwards before she could finish her meal and she growled at him darkly and fought against his grip, but of course he wouldn't let go.

"Easy, dear, leave something for my hybrids."

With his words, the first of the newbie creatures started to shift as they came back from the dead. Grace shook her head and finally shoved his hands off.

"I'm sorry."

She whispered into the girl's ear as she held her bleeding neck over the werewolves corpses. They started to awake fully and desperately craved for the fresh blood. Most of them drank it immediately, some hesitated, but after all they were all turned.

"Are we done?"

The younger vampire let the human's corpse fall to the ground and went back to Klaus' side.

"Yes, we are. Good work, Gracie. Now find us a good motel while I make my speech."

She chocked down a snarky comment before she exited into the woods surrounding them. But before she could even reach the tree line, she was suddenly shoved to the ground by one of the hybrids. His fangs sunk into her neck with a deadly force and Grace screamed from the top of her lungs.

Klaus pushed him down from her and broke the hybrid's neck, before he quickly helped Grace to her feet. She was too shocked to even thank him. She touched her neck, only to hiss in pain and find her hands stained with her own blood. He had bitten her. A lethal bite for a vampire.

"That looks like a nasty bite."

With a expression full of mixed emotions, Klaus stared into Grace's troubled eyes.

An hour later Grace and Klaus sat on the bed of a nice motel. He had one finger under her chin and looked at her wound. The first symptoms already kicked in. After the wound had reopened, Grace felt so oddly cold. She hadn't felt cold since she died, so it was so strange to feel this kind of weakness again.

Her hands were shaking and the pain and itching coming from the wound was nearly unbearable. As the bite was on her neck, it was very close to her heart, which meant that the process would be quite quick.

It felt like hours until Klaus bit into his wrist and held it out for Grace to feed on. She gasped when she saw the fresh blood and immediately lunged forward. It promised her relief and it did exactly that. At first it felt like it was burning through her veins, but then it settled on the wound and she felt how it closed. The feeling of coldness and the pain were gone and she led out a relived breath, looking at Klaus thankfully.

"Have you really thought that I would let you die of a werewolf bite, Grace."

She shook her head and stood up, walking to a mirror to inspect her now again smooth, healed skin.

"Took you long enough. When it comes to you, everything is possible."

Klaus chuckled, enjoying her sarcasm. Not many people had the guts to talk to him like that. He tilted his head and looked the brunette beauty up and down. His brother was a lucky man. She was exquisite. Never before had Klaus looked at her like that.

A shiver ran down Grace's spine when she noticed him staring at her.

"Good for you that you have such a helpful and selfless friend."

Klaus stood up and came closer to the younger vampire. When she turned around to face him, he was surprisingly close. He looked down to her, his eyes had this certain mischievous spark in them, but there was also something new: vulnerability. He really wanted her to be his friend, she meant something to him. Maybe he even cared about her.

"We aren't friends, Nik."

She had picked this nickname up from Rebekah, Grace thought it suited him better. It sounded nicer, it let her deep buried fear of him disappear.

"What are we then, Grace?"

He placed his hands on her slim shoulders and Grace tensed, looking at him confused. Where was he getting at? But then she recognized this look. She had seen it often in men's eyes.

Klaus was about to kiss her.

His head lowered before she could answer anything, it was more of a rhetorical question. It was a decision out of the moment, but still Klaus wanted to test a theory.

The least he expected was that she would slap him right across the face. But that was exactly what she did. It probably hurt her more than him when her palm connected with his stubbled cheek. A loud, smacking sound went off.

Grace's eyes widened in shock of her own doing. It was like her body reacted on it's own. There surely was more meaning into this than just this attempt for a kiss, but it showed Grace again how much she had changed. But not in terms of vampirism, but how in this really short time they'd spent together, Elijah had changed her. Some months ago, she would've dived in for every kiss she could get, those little escapes from reality gave her huge comfort.

But not with Klaus. For many reasons, but Grace had to admit that his older brother was the true reason amongst all those more serious reasons.

Another thing clicked into place inside Grace's mind. She wasn't afraid of the hybrid anymore. Even if she slapped him literally across the face, she knew he wouldn't hurt her. Despite this foolish attempt to let off steam, he really was, in his damn strange ways, trying to be her friend. Klaus protected her, that's why he kept her close. He healed this bite, even tough he could've just let her die. Grace wasn't someone he needed anymore. He had enough to people to protect Elena and he could hunt down werewolves on his own. Maybe some day, they could be friends. But not now.

"I think I deserved that."

The hybrid mumbled. He rubbed his cheek and stubble, which Grace would surely would've fallen for if her heart wasn't occupied. Never would she have imaged that a man would steal her heart the way Elijah did.

"Yes, you did. What were you thinking?"

Grace got some distance between them and took place on the bed again. Her voice was calm, she wasn't as angry as she would've expected.

"Nothing at all."

Silence erupted and they just looked at each other before Grace gazed down to her hands.

"You know, I've been dreaming about him..."

Klaus interrupted her before she could finish her sentence which lit this familiar anger in her.

"Grace, seriously, I don't want to hear about your wet dreams about my brother."

She growled and threw a pillow at him which he easily caught with an amused smile on his face.

"Oh shut up! That's not what I meant. I mean like terrifyingly realistic dreams. It only happens when I'm close to him, like when we were in Mystic Falls. He's suffering, Klaus. I know you haven't experienced it yourself, but he's like trapped in a small room. He's a prisoner in his body and it drives him crazy. Because you're taking his life away from him, Klaus. Please, you know him better than I do, he'll forgive you, like Rebekah did."

Grace just had to try. There must be some way inside his conscience and she had the feeling that Rebekah and her were the only persons on the planet that could bring him to undagger his siblings.

His smile faded and slowly, Klaus stepped closer again. He bent down and looked her in the eyes. But it wasn't a dangerous way.

"I promise you something. When I take down Mikael, I'll release them all. Please, understand, I can't bring myself to do it now, because I know my father will use them as leverage or turn them against me. Because it's me who he hunts, not them. Help me kill Mikael and I'll leave you and Elijah alone. You have my word."

At this point, Grace saw the similarity between the brothers. They may not look the same, but in a certain way their characters were alike. It made Grace sure that she could count on his word.

Grace nodded a small satisfied grin crossed his features. This conversation was a huge improvement between them.

"At some point you have to tell me your families' story."

He chuckled.

"Ask Rebekah. She can tell that story better. Anyways, I haven't heard of her lately. I think you should go back to Mystic Falls and check up on her."

Again Grace nodded and stood up and strutted towards the door. It was the best if she left now. She didn't want to destroy that tiny, friendly bond they just had developed. Grace could trust him now to a certain extent.

"I'll text you when I see her."

She was about to turn the doorknob when he stopped her. Grace gazed over shoulder to look at him while he spoke.

"Thank you."

Wow, he actually could use those words. She smiled, but before she went outside, she knew she had to give those words back, so he wouldn't feel that vulnerable.

"Thanks for saving me."

I love Klaus' and Grace's relationship :D Building their friendship is actually the whole point in not skipping the Elijah-less parts :(


	24. Chapter 24

The next day, Grace arrived at the Salvatore's doorstep. After talking to some compelled schoolgirls she found out that Rebekah was staying them. It was ironic how much of a Rebekah-thing this was. She had a hopeless crush on Stefan and this was her way to get into his head. This girl was a thousand years old and still had so much to learn.

Just as she wanted to knock, the door flew open to reveal an upset looking Elena. Her gaze turned desperate when she saw her older sister. Like Grace was the last person she needed right now. How low Elena thought of her again crushed her heart, but she quickly set up her pokerface and just raised a brow.

Sighing and shaking her head, Grace's sister stormed past her and walked up the street. Grace didn't concentrate on her sister's concerns right now and walked inside to find an equally angered Rebekah inside the Salvatore mansion.

"Hi Beks. You look like you need something strong. With what did my little sister bother you?"

She strutted towards a table that held some of the Salvatore's booze storage. Examining the amber liquid inside the crystal glass bottle, she waited for Rebekah to answer.

"Nothing, she's just planning on freeing my murderous father. Nothing more. Gosh, how I would love to rip her throat out."

Grace handed her a glass before she let herself fall on an armchair after drowning her first shot with even flinching.

"You'd be surprised how often I'd imaged that, too. Metaphorically of course. Because killing my siblings is a big no no."

Smirking Grace wiggled her finger at the blonde. Rebekah chuckled and stroked the fabric of a pile of clothes, before lifting the dresses up and holding them in front of her.

"Red or blue?"

"Do I look like a fashionista to you?"

But Grace was already looking at the expensive dresses. Surely homecoming dresses, a field where she wasn't good at, but a least she could help with with the colors.

"Let's say I think you have a certain...style that I actually like. So come on, help me out."

Rebekah bit her lower lip and gave the puppy eyes, to which Grace groaned. She had taken a liking into the girl, which was surely a problem. It was hard to resist when Rebekah looked just like a fragile, little girl.

"I'm not good with homecoming dresses, mine was so crappy, I made sure every photo of it disappeared...but I would go for the red one. It matches your character. Fierce, badass...but the cut and shape gives you that little hint of sweet innocence that boys would die for."

The blonde's eyes shone with excitement and her full lips parted for a dashing smile. Rebekah was thankful that Grace took the time to really give her advice.

"Come on, let's loosen up a bit, I promised Nik to make sure you're ok. Wait, I've got an idea!"

Grace jumped up from the armchair and got her phone out of her pocket. Coming close to the Original, she opened the camera app and held the gadget over the young women's heads. Grinning into the camera, they clinked glasses and Grace snapped the photo. Laughing, she texted it to Klaus. Rebekah couldn't keep the laughter to herself anymore and she started to enjoy Grace's company very much.

The girls kept on drinking and chit chat over what happened the last few days. Time flew by and Grace remembered what she actually wanted to ask Rebekah.

"With your father being the next big bad villain in town, could you tell me why this all happened? What's your families' story, I'm really curious."

Rebekah rolled her eyes and lazily walked up the stairs. Grace followed her and smiled amused when she saw that Rebekah had entered Stefan's room. It was kind of a creative mess, which fitted Stefan. It was cozy, nearly homey.

The blonde vampire opened the drawers and rummaged through Stefan's belongings, to which Grace pulled up an eyebrow.

"Don't judge. As if you never wanted to snoop."

She pulled out a pair of the Salvatore's underwear and examined it closely. It made Grace laugh as she started to pace around the room.

"You know that it would be your brother's underwear I would rummage through?...Gosh, I would love that."

A dreamy smile appeared on Grace's face, knowing that she would tease Rebekah enough with it. She chuckled when the blonde wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Ew, you're disgusting, Grace! Please, I don't want to imagine you and Elijah doing...ew!"

Grace jumped onto Stefan's bed and shot her an amused look.

"You could change the topic by telling me your childhood stories?"

Shaking her head, Rebekah sat down beside her. She sighed dramatically.

"I've just told your sister all about it...Ok, I will show you. But only because I like you!"

Nodding Grace laid down before Rebekah touched her forehead, granting her access to her memories.

It was a much lighter picture than Grace imagined. Grace remembered what she read and studied about Viking times, but seeing it with her own eyes was mind blowing. To have witnesses of this time right in front of her was actually amazing. She should ask Klaus and Rebekah more about it.

Rebekah seemed to have lived a nicer childhood than Grace had pictured. They lived a simple life, but it was happy. Children playing, parents that smiled down to them. When a long haired, much more carefree looking Elijah appeared in the memories, Grace smiled. She would've loved to meet this man and wondered if he was still inside the suited Elijah that she fell in love with.

The memories only darkened when Mikael hit Klaus brutally, which seemed to be Rebekah's childhood trauma. It made Grace understand Klaus fear and paranoia. Abuse, even if it was a thousand years ago, is something no one would ever forget.

Memory after memory the lightness seemed to fade. It hit its climax when their youngest brother Henrik died. Grace witnessed the desperation and grief in their eyes and it nearly made her cry. Loosing a child must be the worst.

She saw how they became vampires, how Mikael stabbed them through their heart. How they drank for the first time and burnt down the white oak tree. It was probably the moment when Rebekah's carefreeness faded from her life. She was nothing but a child, a girl that shouldn't have witnessed all of this.

When Rebekah lifted her hands from Grace's skin, she was sucked out of the memories abruptly. She gasped and quickly wiped the upcoming tears away.

"Wow...that was intense. Your father needs hell of an ass kick. Seriously, we have to do something."

Sighing, Rebekah played with her friend's hair and braided small streaks to keep her hands busy. It still wasn't easy for her to got through all these memories.

"We can't do anything but run from Mikael. He'll hunt us down, he'll find our weaknesses. Don't take me wrong, Grace, but you're probably one of these targets. You're close to us and you're pretty easy to kill. Elijah's probably better off in that box right now. He would probably end up on the wrong side of a white oak stake for you."

Rebekah touched a sensitive subject. It made Grace's stomach clench at the thought that anyone of them could die, even Klaus. She wouldn't want to be responsible for one of them dying protecting her, so she really needed to be careful.

Silence erupted and the girls simply enjoyed each other's company, both deep into their own thoughts.

"You're so much prettier than your sister, you're funnier, you have a sense for fashion and you're not hesitant to drink the good booze. But why are they all falling to their knees to kiss Elena's damn feet? I don't understand."

Grace laughed and nudged the blonde in the side.

"I'm a freak Rebekah. Not because I'm a vampire now, I already was when I was human. But then I was a harmless psycho, now I'm actually capable to rip people to shreds with my bare hands. My problem is that they all think that I'm crazy enough to make use of it. Which is quite hypocritical concerning the decent body count Saint Stefan and his pathetic brother have. But if they'd know that I'm seriously hesitant to even touch bunnies, I'd loose my touch."

She said while taking another deep drown straight from the bottle. Rebekah shrugged agreeing.

"I like you, Grace."

"To two freaks alone in the world."

Lifting the bottle, she grinned while Rebekah mimicked her movement. Suddenly they heard the door slamming shut and a quickened heartbeat coming inside. Elena was back.

"Are you seriously having a pyjama party in Stefan's bed?"

The younger Gilbert shook her head, not believing how disrespectful Grace and Rebekah were.

"Here comes the buzzkill..."

Grace whispered and put the bottle back on the table before hopping up from the bed. Rebekah glared at Elena and Grace made sure to keep a checking glance over her shoulder, just in case Rebekah would go for her younger sister's throat.

"What do you want Elena? I told you everything."

Rebekah crossed her arms in front of her chest as the trio walked back into the living room. Elena's eyes quickly adverted to Grace and saw an expression she hadn't seen in her sister's face for a long time. She was insecure and looked for Grace's help. Frowning, Grace made sure to stay close to her sister, as Elena pulled out three photos from her bag.

"We...we found these in a cave beneath the Lockwood estate...this is your families' story...but in here it says that the hybrid killed the Original witch, Rebekah. Not Mikael, Klaus."

Uh oh.

Rebekah was steaming of anger. The silence was full of tension and Grace was sure that she couldn't stop and Original that was in rage-mode from killing her silly younger sister.

"He made up all this lies so he wouldn't loose you."

Why couldn't she just stop provoking her? What was her goal? Grace believed her, because this was such a Klaus thing to do, but Rebekah was his sister for god's sake! Of course she wouldn't believe a girl that she knew loathed her whole family.

Grace lightly touched Elena's arm, but she just shrugged her off and continued pushing the Original.

"Those were silly people that had no idea who my family was!"

Rebekah yelled and threw the pictures into the fire. Tears and desperation were visible in her eyes, still blocking the truth out.

"Why are you doing this to me?! I've done nothing to you!"

She was so right. Rebekah envied Elena but in contrary to the latter, the Original hadn't done anything to her.

"Rebekah, he controls all of our lives, yours, mine, Grace's..."

Elena said, glancing at her sister. Grace rolled her eyes, she just wanted to be kept out of this.

Suddenly, Rebekah lashed out and grabbed Elena by her throat and pushed her to the chimney, her vampire face coming out, ready to make her stop talking.

Immediately, Grace rushed to the Original and wrapped her arms around the girl, trying to get her away from her seriously afraid looking sister. It was then when Rebekah broke. The truth made its way in and the tears rolled over her cheeks. She sobbed and sank into Grace's arms. Lightly, the younger vampire let her friends sink to the floor with her. Grace knelt and pulled Rebekah into an embrace. She stroked her long blonde hair and tried to calm her.

"Go."

She mouthed to Elena, who finally followed her sister's advice.

Grace and Rebekah sat there for a long time. She just stayed with her until all the tears and sobs faded. Rebekah was a mess, she was grieving, sad and angry at the same time. Like Grace, she had lost her mother way too early and now she lost all her trust into her brother.

It was then when Grace knew what Elena was up to. She wanted Rebekah on their side. Hopefully she wouldn't succeed and Rebekah was cleverer than to fall for that.

"Thank you."

Rebekah whispered into Grace's neck. She gently squeezed her friend's shoulders and helped her up.

"You're welcome. Come on, let's get you into bed."

The Original nodded and went upstairs. She wasn't the confident girl Grace got to know anymore. Rebekah was a broken child, that needed comfort and her family. Grace would try her best to be there for her.

After Grace made sure that Rebekah was soundly asleep, hopefully harm free for some hours, the newbie vampire walked towards her home. She was happy to finally get into her bed and see Jeremy, hopefully for longer than a day.

Sighing, she unlocked the door and mumbled a 'hi' to Elena who was in the kitchen. She smiled when she noticed that Elena had made late night coffee.

"Coffee...thank you."

Pouring herself a cup, she took a seat next to her sister, who even flashed her a little smile. Maybe, after some time, things would go back to normal. There could be a chance that vampire-Grace could reconnect with her siblings, hoping that also Elena would stop being afraid of her.

"Is Jer still out? Can't hear him anywhere."

The next moment where Grace would've loved to literally slap herself. She wanted to go back to normal, so maybe she should start by finally stopping to emphasize that she could actually hear her siblings' hearts pumping deliciously smelling blood through their veins. Grace knew that it still freaked them both out a little, even if Elena was dating one...or two vampires.

Elena nearly chocked on her coffee and Grace pulled up a brow. She knew this look Elena had. It always flashed when she was definitely guilty of something and tried to figure if she should lie or not.

"Grace, I have to tell you something..."

So she decided for the truth. Grace jumped up from her stool, it fell over and probably shattered into the pieces by the force of her movement, but she couldn't care less. She had thought that Jeremy was just staying at Bonnie's.

"What happened? Is he hurt?"

Her eyes bore into her sisters and she felt something click into the right place inside her mind. She noticed that her words had a certain amount of power behind them. It felt the same as when Rebekah showed her her memories today, just the other way around. As if she tried to get into Elena's head. Her pupils dilated, but thankfully, Elena wore vervain.

"Have you just tried to compel me?"

A frown was on Elena's face and Grace took a step backwards, shaking her head. Yes, she did. But accidentally. It was the first time she ever did it.

"Elena, I asked you a question."

Her voice was dangerously calm, but at the same time cold as ice. She was seconds away from loosing it and Elena knew her good enough to be careful. But what should she do if Grace attacked? She had a vervain syringe in her bag, but would she be capable of using it on her sister?

"N-no. He's fine...um...some days ago the ghosts took over the historical society party. It all got serious and dangerous and Alaric and I decided to...I..."

Elena couldn't speak the words. Guilt overwhelmed her, even though she knew it was the best for Jeremy.

Grace motioned with her hands for her to continue impatiently.

"I let Damon compel Jeremy to leave town...he left this morning to Denver."

It was the second time today this ice cold silence spread. Suddenly it was broken when the cup of coffee in Grace's hands shattered to pieces. Her hand had grasped it too hard and now the steaming hot liquid burnt her and the shards bore into her skin. But she didn't even blink an eye. With horror, Elena looked at her and shortly watched the wounds heal immediately.

"You did it again. I can't believe it."

A laugh that was close to madness erupted from Grace's throat and her sister flinched.

"It's the best for him...it's too dangerous for him here."

Grace just shook her head and cleaned her hand off the spilled coffee.

"Yes, and it was also the best for me to be brainwashed after the incident at the lake house, too. Look where it got me, Elena! You can't just mess with our minds, Elena! Do you have any idea how it feels? No, you don't because your precious boyfriends would never dare! Who gives you the right to decide for us, Elena? I'm responsible for you, but even I wouldn't even have the thought to do something like that against your will!"

She spat the last words. Anger and disappointment were the only thing she could feel amongst her heightened emotions. Grace had forgiven Elena for making Damon compel her, but never would she have thought that she would try it on Jeremy. This girl was the most hypocritical, spoiled brat she had ever seen. She could barely recognize her as her own sister.

"You weren't there, Grace! You've been gone for the whole summer! And now you're back and of all people you're friends with Klaus! Damn, Grace, he killed us. You died!"

Her last words were like a knife stabbed right into her heart. For Elena, she was dead. Not her sister anymore. A monster that was her enemy now.

She stumbled forward to prop herself at the table, but Elena interpreted it wrong and took a step back. The syringe she had snug into her hand just in case Grace would loose control flashed.

When Grace saw it, she suddenly was blank of emotion. The pain, the anger was gone. But maybe they just turned void because she was too overwhelmed. She couldn't believe it. Her sister had a damn syringe in her hand to take her out.

A new kind of coldness was in Grace's eyes when she looked Elena in the eyes again.

"...and what do you want to do with me now, Elena? Do you want to take me out and torture emotions into me? The same you probably want to do to Stefan? Let me tell you something, I'm not emotionless. That's who I am, Elena. You can't change me. But I see, you don't like me this way. Well, then let's just stop pretend that I'm still your sister. I am dead to you, you made that clear."

Elena's mouth hung wide open, looking for words, but not able to find anything useful to say. Tears pooled in her eyes when she noticed that she couldn't do anything against this huge gap, actually a crater, that opened up between the sisters.

Without another word, Grace disappeared into her bedroom, she didn't care anymore if she used her vampire speed or not. She would've loved to go somewhere else, not having to be in the same house as Elena. But she figured that her only 'friends' were Klaus and Rebekah. Klaus was god knows where in Portland, Rebekah was at the Salvatores who were two other persons she couldn't bear seeing right now and the man she loved was still daggered in a coffin.

But she was also too stubborn to run away. This was her house, too. She was at least still Jeremy's legal guardian.

Grace had the class to not start a war with her own sister, but Elena had taken this too far. She couldn't forgive her.


	25. Chapter 25

Grace was busy distracting herself from her own family drama the next day. She made sure to get her position back in the town's society. At first, she talked to Carol about getting back into the historical society. It was the much easier part, as Carol still seemed to like the older Gilbert even tough she was a vampire now. Since Tyler was a hybrid now and Carol already had figured that Grace was the only sane person in Klaus' inner circle, she was rather welcoming.

Convincing the sheriff to get into the founder's council was quite more tricky. Of course Liz wasn't that happy about having another vampire in an actually anti-vampire-organisation. She hadn't got anything personal against Grace and she knew that it was her right to inhabit her families' place in the council. But it was already too vampire-infiltrated. Liz trusted vampires in general only to a certain degree and Grace and Damon combined could be a dangerous force. Both were unpredictable.

Grace had to show a lot of restrain to not go straight for the sheriff's throat. Anger took over her way too easily and this conversation was a good opportunity to learn control. If she wanted to be cold and unpredictable for them, she needed to be calm and in check.

After Liz finally realized that Grace was no threat for the community and probably a useful ally connecting to the Original family, the sheriff accepted her as a new member. Grace had what she wanted and she was very satisfied with her progress.

In the afternoon, she tried hard to avoid everything concerning her sister and the homecoming dance. She wasn't on speaking terms with Elena and what Grace hated even more than their fight was high school dances.

The vampire needed a day off responsibility and so she decided to lock herself up in her bedroom and read a good book while having some cups of tea. For half an hour it was actually peaceful. Elena was out preparing for the dance, so she was completely alone in the house. Like the first night she spend back in Mystic Falls the silence was 'loud', just that now it was literally loud. She could hear cars pass by and people chatting outside; animals running around in the woods, their little hearts beating fast. Even the trees made noises. But those were sounds that didn't add to the drumming of her constantly racing mind.

Her phone broke this little moment of peace. The tunes of the 'Game of Thrones' intro disturbed the natural sounds around her. Sighing, Grace picked the phone up from her nightstand and rolled her eyes when she saw that it was Klaus.

"What do you want?"

She said annoyed by the interruption of her free afternoon. The hybrid laughed at her tone.

"Bad mood, Gracie?"

Klaus flashed one of his devious grins through the phone, Grace could literally see it right in front of her. He was joking, something wasn't right.

"Seriously, Klaus, what is it?"

His amusement vanished quickly. He was back to business and today it was a really pressing matter.

"Stefan just called me, telling me your sister daggered my father."

With wide eyes Grace jumped up from her bed. Was had she gotten herself into again?

"...I don't believe a word he said."

She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose to make herself think.

"He's compelled, Klaus, he can't lie."

Grace started to pace up and down the room. She had just wanted one day off. Now he sister was close to getting killed, only because Grace had looked away for some seconds.

"I seriously doubt their intelligence, but what I also doubt is that Elena could simply dagger my father, who I couldn't take down for a thousand years myself. They're conspiring, I'm sure of it."

"...And what should we do in your opinion?"

The point was, that he was completely right. They were doing something seriously stupid and they weren't even trying to cover it properly.

"Can you plan a party in one hour?"

Damn, she could.

An hour later, she stood in the Lockwood estate together with Tyler and watched as the first guests pooled inside the house and garden. She was fully dressed up, not one of her finest chosen outfits, but at least sexy enough to at least not look like all those school girls.

Tyler couldn't really keep his eyes from her long legs and her cleavage. She felt the deep urge to slap him. He had a girlfriend and Caroline was a really good one. The blonde was a nice girl, who was great at being a vampire and her whole party had just been ruined by a 'flooding'.

In this hour, Tyler got enough beer to get an army drunk, while Grace managed to get some snacks and a band, which didn't even needed to be compelled. They were already outside on the little stage that was thankfully available, too, preparing for their gig.

"Who the hell are all those people?"

Grace frowned. She knew some of the kids in their homecoming dresses, but most of the guests were more her own age, college students at least.

"I don't know. Klaus told me they were his friends."

Sparing the hybrid a side glance, she chuckled amused.

"Klaus doesn't have any friends."

It confused her when suddenly Tylers expression turned angered. He looked pissed, to which Grace lifted an eyebrow. What was going on with him? She knew there was this strange sirebond-thing going on, but to what extent?

"I thought you're his friend. At least he seems to care about you. He said you and Elena are highest priority."

This damn bastard. His weird paranoia was again staring to take over. Couldn't he show his overwhelming kind of worry for his brother's almost-girlfriend in a less annoying way?

"We aren't friends. And I can take care of myself."

She clenched her fists, this would end in an argument with Klaus, she was sure of it.

"Well, at least you're shagging his brother."

Tyler said with a grin on his face. He definitely knew that this was a secret he was meant to keep. She shot him a glare that sent a shiver down the hybrid's spine. Creepy Grace was back. He always had been kind of afraid of the older Gilbert. The difference was that now she had turned hot.

"If you even try and spill any of such disrespectful gossip, I will personally rip you to shreds. Believe me, I won't hesitate."

Her voice was calm and had nearly a cheery tone to not get any attention on her. Before she went off into the mass, she squeezed his shoulder and was close to crushing his bones. He winced and he wanted to attack her when the sirebond kicked in which prevented him from hurting Grace.

When she walked outside, she looked over the crowd of people, hoping that Klaus had already arrived. They would have a talk that would hopefully get him to back down and finally leave her alone.

She found him quickly as he was about to step on the stage. He welcomed everyone and introduced the band. By now Elena and her friends would know that Klaus was one step ahead of them, he also had a plan.

"Good evening, Gracie. Nice party."

After he jumped down from the stage, he found Grace who had come closer and cheerfully wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"If you don't take your dirty hands off me, I'll allow myself the joy to rip your arm from its socket."

Klaus laughed, but thankfully let go of her. He seemed to have realized that it wasn't smart to lit Grace's temper.

"What put you in a mood, love?"

He looked at her with an amused grin. Grace would have loved to shove some wolfsbane into his face, but she continued to walk beside him.

"Oh, nothing, I just found out that you tell every stray dog about the relationship Elijah and I don't even have, plus you still can't get it into your thick canine skull that I'm capable of looking after myself."

The hybrid was trying hard to keep himself from laughing out loud. He bit his lower lip and his eyes were gleaming with mischief. This gave him this boyish look that she could see rows of girls falling for.

"This lad can't keep a secret, doesn't he?"

Grace felt eyes on her and Klaus as they walked through the crowd of partying people, so she decided to keep the bickering on for a while, so no one could eavesdrop on them developing a plan.

She didn't even know when she became Klaus' partner in crime, but she was sure that she could trust Klaus more than this Mikael-person. Someone who wanted to kill his own children probably wouldn't hesitate to let a certain very important doppelgänger bleed dry.

"You want me to trust you? Start by respecting me. Deal?"

Grace gave him a serious look, to which he nodded. Then his gaze drifted off, he seemed to have noticed them being watched, too. He leaned in and whispered into her ear.

"I want you by my side for this evening. Unfortunately not just because I enjoy your lovely company, but because you're such a cherished member of your family, you really make an amazing shield from any sneak attacks."

She rolled her eyes, but stayed by his side. On the inside she prayed that she would come up with a plan quicker than the one of the other's kicked in.

Shortly after, Stefan joined them.

"Exactly like old times. I think we make a pretty dynamic trio."

Klaus commented, to which Stefan shrugged.

Grace was distracted, because she coincidentally saw her sister coming down the stairs. She came to a halt and looked down to Stefan and Klaus. Her perfectly shaped eyebrow lifted up as she watched them. This was a pretty uncommon expression for Elena. It was more calculating, but surely not worried, which she would've expected from her sister. Something was off about her, Grace could see it.

"...and now I will reunite my family."

Klaus ripped Grace out of her thoughts when he lightly squeezed her shoulder. The corners of her lips twitched upwards, but she was way too distracted to think about it right now. She didn't really pay attention to Klaus' and Stefan's conversation.

It wasn't long until Klaus moved towards Elena who stood alone, staring at the band. Grace stopped next to him and watched her sister closely.

Then something strange happened. 'Elena' flashed her a little smile. It was then when Grace immediately knew that this wasn't her sister. They just had a serious fight, Elena wouldn't have smiled at her in this situation.

Katherine.

It was Elena's evil doppelgänger, she just wasn't properly briefed on the role she had to play. Katherine probably hadn't been informed on the fact, that for Team Elena, Grace was now playing on the bad guys' side.

But now Grace had to play her role better. She returned the smile.

"It's not easy for a human to dagger an Original."

Klaus stated with an actually friendly smile on his face. He was a good actor as well.

"It wasn't the first time."

She said sighing, nervously playing with her fingers.

"Oh, yes, right, Elijah..."

Klaus couldn't help and grin widely, sparing Grace a glance. She gave him a serious look and sighed.

"I'll get myself a drink."

Grace said and walked away, letting Klaus time to intimidate 'Elena' a little further, but not without looking over her shoulder and secretly motioning for Klaus to follow her with her eyes.

They got Elena out of the picture, so something dangerous was going on here.

Fortunately, Klaus seemed to have gotten the hint and followed after her. They were in a quieter place, but still enough ordinary people were around so no one could hide or eavesdrop.

He tilted his head in question.

"This wasn't my sister, Klaus. It was Katherine. They have something juicy planned for you and I'm sure it involves your not-so-dead father."

Klaus eyes widened a little and rage sparked up in them. He quickly scanned the mass with his eyes just to be sure. Afterwards, he placed a hand on Grace's tiny back and led her back to the house.

"I've got hybrids scattered everywhere. They'll rip Mikael to shreds if I give the order."

Nodding, she looked up to the house. Mikael couldn't enter, so they probably had someone else to attack Klaus. At least the hybrids could buy them some time.

"Well, let's say we have to play the act of our life."

The hybrid and the vampire, former enemies and now partners in crime, looked at each other and a little cruel grin appeared on both of their faces.

The situation came to its climax shortly after they arrived inside. Klaus and Grace walked up to the widely opened door. Mikael stood in the doorframe, glaring at his son. He was an intimidating presence, but Grace had stopped being afraid of anything, so she stood her ground. But she could see Klaus insecurity.

She positioned himself next to him, crossing her arms over her chest, sparing a glance at the hybrids that were rowed up outside behind Klaus' father.

"Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come inside?...I forgot, you can't."

Klaus spat. There wasn't any amusement in his voice, just coldness and hate. It was sad that a son had to feel this way towards his father.

"Look at the big bad wolf. Afraid to come outside, hiding between abominations and...girls."

Mikael looked Grace up and down judging, to which she snarled.

"...but you're forgetting one thing. Your little abominations are still part vampire which means they can be compelled by me."

One of the hybrids they found on their tour around the west coast showed up next to Mikael, her gaze void of anything, definitely compelled. She dragged Katherine with her, who fought against her grip and perfectly mimicked Elena's fearful doe eyes.

Now that was the moment where Grace's part kicked in. Her eyes widened and she wanted to rush forward to get her out of Mikael's grip, but Klaus caught her by her waist. Grace struggled and gasped.

"Without her, those will be the last abominations you created."

Mikael smiled cruelly. An expression Klaus surely had learned from him. Klaus face remained unimpressed, but slightly annoyed by Grace. It all went off smooth.

"Kill her, what do I care? The only thing I need is to get rid of you."

Grace grabbed him by the collar and shook him dramatically.

"Klaus, no! He will kill her!"

Roughly, he pushed her aside, but still held her by her upper arm.

"Come on, old man! Kill her, what are you waiting for?!"

Mikael again looked at Grace's bewildered face and smiled satisfied. Suddenly, he pulled out a knife and stabbed Katherine in the side and let her fall to ground.

The Original would've expected Grace to run to her sister, so Klaus would be distracted and his back would be unprotected, Damon could stab him with the stake. But none of them happened. Grace and Klaus shared a smile, happy that it worked out the way they wanted it to.

Right in the moment as Damon rushed at them from behind, Grace was in front of the Salvatore brother and hit him by surprise. With one straight punch in the stomach, he flew back and let the stake fall. She caught it and quickly threw it at Klaus.

Mikael was about to disappear, but suddenly, another positive addition to their plan came up. Stefan grabbed Mikael from behind and stopped him from running, so Klaus could easily get a hold on his father's throat. Without another word he stabbed the stake deep into Mikael's chest to which his whole body burst up in flames.

Meanwhile, Damon had Grace furiously pushed against the wall.

"Do you want to get your sister killed?"

He hissed at her, his baby blue eyes full of rage. For him, Grace was the enemy now.

"No, I'm the one who is keeping you all alive! I want peace, Damon, and now we will have it! So shut up and disappear before Klaus slaughters you."

Damon growled, but accepted his defeat. He spared a side glance at Klaus, who was just about to turn around and handle him. His fist slammed into the wall next to Grace's head and a split second later, he was gone.

Stefan also had disappeared, so now Klaus stood alone next to the ashes of his dead father. Grace joined him.

"It's over."

She lightly smiled.

"Yes, it indeed is."

Some hours later, after Klaus made sure that all this mess was cleaned up and had a strong drink, Grace and Klaus walked through a row of trucks, up to the one that carried the coffins containing his siblings.

Grace nearly bounced of excitement to finally see Elijah again. A breathtaking smile was plastered across her face. It was finally time. This whole summer was worth something. She couldn't really believe it.

"So Stefan got his freedom back for helping you kill Mikael. Can I ask for something, too?"

Klaus spared her a curious glance. He never had seen Grace this happy looking before. She really seemed to love his brother. The smile that lit up her features suited her perfectly.

"Now that Mikael is dead and the only weapon that could kill you burnt with it, could you please abandon the thought of punishing my sister and her friends?"

He looked forward again, thinking. Klaus would've loved to make them pay, but that was just for the fun of it.

"You really still care for them, even tough they probably hate you for saving me, don't you?"

She shrugged and Klaus laughed, but nodded, granting her her wish. It was then, when his phone rang and Klaus answered to Stefan's call.

"Stefan! Miss me already?"

Grace frowned. Why should of all people Stefan call him, right after he got his freedom from his compulsion back? She thought he would avoid the hybrid for as long as possible and concentrate on getting Elena back.

She listened in on the conversation and grew worried by the second.

"...you know what never gets old, Klaus? Revenge."

Right in this moment Klaus opened the back of the truck to reveal a lot of empty space. No coffins. Grace's eyes widened. All hope was ripped off her violently. Elijah wasn't here. And Klaus had no clue were the coffins were.

"No."

Grace and Klaus said in unison.


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry, I messed up and posted the wrong chapter!**

The next days were chaotic. But war probably always brought chaos with it. It was Klaus and Grace against not-so-saint Stefan and his friends. A week of threats and acts of a massive pissing contest passed and Grace grew more and more estranged with her sister. Grace was now the enemy and now one was trusting her anymore. But the feeling was mutual.

With every day, Grace grew colder and more reckless. She fed a lot, never having true control over herself. Thankfully she had a bunch of hybrids that covered up a mess. It was pretty helpful that Klaus told his minions to listen to Grace's orders. They left her alone when she grew sick of her bodyguards but also were really good at letting bodies disappear.

Still, Grace continued to reside at her home. Elena and her didn't speak a word with each other. There was nothing to add to their fight. At some point, Grace stopped caring about it. The hateful and disappointed glances only amused her.

Another night, Grace witnessed something interesting. After a long day of trying to make Stefan break, she came home to see Damon and Elena on the porch. Grace hid herself for a moment to listen in on their conversation, but it was just emotional bullshit. Seconds later, she heard kissing noises coming from the porch, which honestly surprised her. Everyone knew that Damon was into his brother's girl, but never would her sister have imagined that Elena would return those feelings. It was quite bitchy, even for Elena.

For a second, the cold grasp of jealousy squeezed her heart. Why didn't she deserve to have a moment with her loved one? Elena was there, making out with Damon, while his brother sat god knows where, keeping Elijah captive. But to be honest, Elena didn't even know that her sister was involved with the man that betrayed them all. It better stayed like that for some time, but of course it resulted in the doppelgänger having no clue why Grace helped the enemy.

She clenched her fists and put back on her cold, unemotional mask. When she went by the kissing couple she only chuckled amused, to which they both pulled apart immediately. They looked at her with confused and shocked glances.

"Oh, don't let me bother you. Please just don't be too loud if this gets more cozy, I honestly need to sleep."

Their mouths hung wide open and they panted, not knowing what to reply. It looked rather silly.

"...And Damon, tell your brother to return the coffins...again."

She flashed Damon a sweet smile, before she tapped him on his shoulder and disappeared inside.

"You know that this is sick, don't you?"

Grace said as she entered Klaus' new home. He was standing next to Rebekah's coffin and she felt anger rose inside her. Why didn't he just undagger her? She could help them in this situation.

"Don't pout, love. I'll reunite them soon."

Shaking her head, Grace walked closer to the coffin and stroked its lid.

"You know, she's also my friend. And I honestly would love to have all my friends together, awake and at peace. The sooner you do that, the easier it'll be."

"So you finally admit that we're friends?"

Klaus said with a sly smile on his face. He laughed when she nudged him. Grace grinned over his childishness, but simply rolled her eyes. She should stop denying to herself that she was actually getting along quite well with him.

Sighing, she leaned against the coffin and looked around the construction site. From the outside, the mansion looked like a damn castle. Klaus had a good taste, properly formed throughout the centuries. She couldn't wait to help him choosing expensive decorative piece, which would give the house some character and would make it a true home.

"You won't believe what I just saw. My sister really seems to switch brothers. Caught her with Damon on my porch."

Klaus faked a vomit and they both laughed. Usually he wasn't interested in the newest doppelgänger gossip, but it this time it could be of use. But it only worried him more, because this development brought the thought closer that Elena would eventually die in this feud between the Salvatore-brother. He couldn't have that.

"Besides from spreading gossip, what are we up to today in the getting my family back problem?"

After pacing around the room thinking for a while, Grace came to a halt in front of window. The sunlight shone through it, warming her skin.

"Well, I have to go to the council meeting tonight. I enjoy nothing more than to raise funds for the restoring of the bridge my parents died on. Have I mentioned that you'll also come?"

Her voice dripped of sarcasm, to which Klaus rose an eyebrow. He didn't really know the story of her parent's death. Probably he wasn't even interested.

"Why would I?"

Sighing, Grace turned around to face him.

"Because, in order to defy Stefan, you need the locals on your side. They don't trust you and are frightened by your hybrids. You won't come far if you have those annoying vampire haters on your heels."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a determined look.

"Good thing that you're in the council and will keep them from doing stupid things. Come on, you can make a donation in my name and everything will be fine."

Sometimes, even a thousand year old man wasn't clever enough to see where alliances were important. Usually, Klaus simply killed people who stood in his way, but here he wanted to built a home, so he should integrate into the society.

"Do I look like your wife? No, you can do your dirty work on your own. Charm the mayor into looking the other way, old man."

Rolling his eyes, he nodded. But before he could reply anything else, someone new joined them in the house. Stefan. Wow, he had guts to show up here.

"Stefan. I thought you left town the minute I set you free."

The younger vampire smiled to himself.

"You know what, Klaus, I don't like your hybrids. I want them gone."

Grace's eyebrows rose in surprise. Was he stupid or just really brave? Maybe both, or maybe it was simply his emotion-rollercoaster.

"Oh, they're actually pretty helpful. Just ignore them, they won't do anything to you if you finally give me my coffins back."

Stefan chuckled, he seemed to find the situation pretty funny.

"Well, I could just drop Elijah at the bottom of the arctic, if you don't do as I say."

Grace's hands clenched into fists and a low growl escaped her lips. She knew that was exactly the reaction Stefan wanted to see, but when it came to Elijah, Grace wasn't up to games. But as she wanted to step closer to Stefan, Klaus stopped her.

"Maybe loosing one brother is worth in exchange to taking the life of yours."

Klaus's smirk was devious and that's when Grace knew that he was bluffing. He wouldn't risk Elijah's life.

"Nice try, Klaus."

Stefan said and suddenly turned around, chopping the head of an approaching hybrid off. The hybrid's and the vampire's eyes widened as the dead body fell to the ground. Grace could see that Klaus was raging, but he didn't make a move.

"One dead. Sent the others away, or you won't have any minions to play with anymore."

The evening went just as Grace planned it. She strutted through the Founder's Hall at Klaus' arm, trying to avoid thinking about the cause of this fundraiser. It seemed so far away and long ago that her parents died, but the pain still felt as strong as on the first day when she thought about it. This feeling got worse when she became a vampire, probably because of the heightened emotions.

She was fortunately ripped out of her dark thoughts when Grace saw Carol Lockwood. Tapping on Klaus' arm, she got his attention and led him to the mayor. Perfectly charming, he greeted her with a smile and placed a kiss on the back of her hand, to which Carol faked a smile. She definitely held a grudge against the hybrid, especially now that Klaus turned her son into a vampire.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself in person yet. My name is Klaus Mikaelson. It's a pleasure to meet you, mayor Lockwood."

Now it was Grace turn to wanting to vomit. He was really trying to charm her in that way. Disgusting.

"Good evening. I've heard you want to reside in my town for a while?"

Carol's voice was friendly, but it was clear that she rather be somewhere else than chatting with the potentially dangerous hybrid.

"I actually would love to stay longer than a while. Of course I then want to participate in this beautiful town's society. Has our dearest Grace shared with you that me and my family were born here centuries before your founders arrived here?"

Carol gazed at her suspiciously. Grace knew that she also lost a lot of the mayor's trust, but still it seemed like Carol couldn't help but like the orphan girl.

"Yes, she has. You know, Mr. Mikaelson, I would be very glad to welcome you into our society, but you need to understand that we're all quite worried if you'll bring...turmoil here."

Klaus grabbed two champagne glasses and handed them to the women next to him. Watching the conversation, Grace took a sip.

"If you mean my hybrids by turmoil, I can assure you that they mean no harm to you. You know, I've only experienced the pain of turning twice in my thousand years of lifetime and I can assure you that the werewolves are very grateful to not have to go through it anymore."

He was going onto the more private bait. Clever, but maybe a way too sensitive subject, as Carol probably wasn't too happy that her own son is amongst the hybrids.

"Carol, I promise that I just want to live a peaceful life here. Let's work together and we can all achieve this common goal."

The mayor tensed a bit, she was obviously afraid of Klaus but tried to hide it. She glanced again at Grace and then sighed.

"Well, Grace is a trusted member of our society and I trust her judgement. If you see it fitting to welcome Mr. Mikaelson into our town, I'm happy to share her opinion."

It was a lot of responsibility Carol put on her slim shoulder, but also it was a showing of her trust in her. Grace shot Klaus a serious gaze, but then smiled and held up her glass.

"Then, Klaus, I'm honored to officially welcome you to Mystic Falls."

A satisfied grin spread on Klaus' face and Grace couldn't help but think that she created a monster here. But it was inevitable. Klaus and Carol clinked their glasses with hers.

"I think we should celebrate the start of our new friendship with an act of generosity. I will double the amount of whatever you raise tonight."

His voiced raised for the last part so many other people in the room heard it. They cheered and clapped. Klaus and Grace shared a smile. Until now the evening was running smoothly, just as they wanted.

The first one to intrude the bargain was Damon. He joined them with a grim look on their face.

"Carol, don't take me wrong on this, but are you aware that you're kissing an immortal hybrid's ass that literally ruined your son's life."

Grace rolled her eyes and stepped forward, looking into Damon's eyes cooly.

"Is that a way to treat a lady, Damon? On a event that is meant to fundraise for a greater cause?"

He glared at her, his mouth in a thin line.

"Why don't you simply mind your own business, evil sidekick."

His voice was a hiss, to which Grace chuckled.

"Damon, I'm as much as a council member as you are. And right now, the people I stand for aren't the problem here. It's your brother who just can't stop being childish."

Klaus padded Grace's shoulder from behind.

"I wouldn't dare to lit up her temper, mate. By the way, Grace's right. I'll protect your town if you leave me and my hybrids alone."

"...Please, Damon. Keep your brother in check. We only want peace."

Carol chirped in and an amused smirk spread on Grace's face. Damon was bested, he had to admit it. With defeat written on his face, he turned around and left.

Hours passed until Damon came back and suddenly grabbed Grace by her wrist and motioning for Klaus to follow. She would've loved to chop his dirty hands off.

"Stefan's gone off the rails. He has Elena. Grace, he's going to hurt her."

He said when they reached the room next door. The older Salvatore looked at her, urging her to do something. It was then when Grace knew that he was telling the truth. Her eyes widened in shock and anger. How dare could this idiot try and hurt her sister?

"You're bluffing."

Klaus growled, to which Grace quickly shook her head. But before she could say anything, the hybrid's phone started to ring.

Panic rose inside Grace as she listened into the call. Stefan was about to turn Elena into a vampire! Even after all the fights and the grudge the sister's held for each other, Grace knew that Elena didn't want to be a vampire. She didn't want that for her baby sister.

Her breath quickened and she shot Klaus desperate looks as the hybrid was trying to call for Stefan's bluff. But obviously, this wasn't a bluff.

"Please."

The younger vampire whispered and hybrid finally looked down to her. He stared at her while he said the words.

"I will send them away."

It must've been hard for him to do this and Grace knew that he did it for her, not just because with Elena his blood source would die. When she heard wheels screeching through the speaker she tensed and then there was silence. Suddenly, she heard Elena's whimpering and that was the moment when she was sure that she was till alive. Relief washed through her and she looked at Klaus thankfully. He ended the call and without another word, he threw Grace his car keys to pick Elena up.

Mere minutes later, Grace arrived at Wickery Bridge where she assumed Elena would be. Thankfully, she still stood there shivering. Sighing relieved, Grace got out of the car and silently put a blanket around her sister's shoulders and leading her to the car.

The ride was awkwardly silent, both women trapped in their thoughts and honesty not knowing what to say. When they arrived home, Grace was the first one to find the right words.

"I'm still your sister."

She stated and quickly got out of the car without waiting for Elena's reaction. Grace couldn't bear seeing the disappointment in her sister's eyes today. It had been too much for one day, so she deserved a night without guilt destroying her.

What Grace didn't expect was that she would actually miss the climax of this feud. The next day was quiet, too quiet for her liking. Klaus didn't call, Elena was off somewhere with Bonnie and there weren't any news from Stefan's side. He was better off not coming close to Grace, she would probably rip his head off in the rage she felt. What he did to Elena was inexcusable.

It was already getting dark when she got suspicious, so she tried to call Klaus, who didn't answer any of her tries to reach him. There was something wrong, she could feel it. Her first guess was that Klaus probably wasn't home, so she tried the next place where she would assume trouble. The Salvatore Estate.

When she got closer, she heard Stefan and Damon fighting. Grace positioned herself close to a window where she could clearly see and hear the brothers. They were so wrapped up in their quarrel, they wouldn't notice her. And even if, what should they do? Grace was an untouchable subject to everyone. She was the safest person in town, because she was a loved one to literally everyone important.

Most of the conversation was just about their pathetic fight over Elena, which Grace really didn't want to hear, but she hoped she would find out something more important concerning the coffins.

She held her breath when Damon suddenly pulled out a dagger from behind his back. Her eyes widened as she stared at the silver gadget.

Elijah. He must've undaggered Elijah. Who else would he free? Damon didn't know any of the other siblings except for Rebekah and she was still at Klaus' home, far away from the Salvatore's reach.

Her mind was racing, but there actually was only one thought inside her: She needed to see him.

Before the Salvatores could turn around and find her, she had disappeared.


	27. Chapter 27

On half the way to the Mikaelson estate Grace stopped in her tracks. Doubt washed over her. It wasn't that easy. She couldn't just walk in there and continue the way things were developing between her and Elijah. First, he was probably sorting out some serious family problems with Klaus. Second, Grace wasn't the same person Elijah left when his brother daggered him. She wasn't the fragile damsel in distress anymore. Grace was a monster now, taught by the master of all monsters himself. Third, she couldn't bear seeing Klaus right now.

She was beyond mad. He honestly had the audacity to use her. They planned it all together, Grace did so much for him and he didn't even call her when he got the coffins back. Plus, it was Damon who brought Elijah back to the living. Klaus probably would have spent more time keeping them around in coffins, just to avoid the confrontation.

Grace needed a more clever plan. One with whom she could buy herself time to think, because when it came to Elijah her mind tended to stop working. Damon surely had an agenda when he decided to free Grace's love. Maybe she should follow him and wait the things out. Better sooner than later, she didn't really trust her own judging anymore.

After a while of creepily standing in the middle of the road, she went back home and decided to wait things out. Of course she couldn't sleep that night. Every cell in herself urged her to see Elijah. But for some more hours she had to be cleverer. She needed to be alone with him and Klaus was probably sticking all over him to prevent anyone, including Grace, to fill him in on everything before Elijah heard his side of the story.

The night dragged on and Grace forced herself to stay in bed at least until the sun rose. It wasn't long before she was near the Salvatore's home. She was sure that Damon would meet Elijah, which would hopefully lead to her getting to know what they were planning. More than any person in this world she trusted Elijah, but she was sure that he wouldn't simply forgive his brother everything he had done. Especially what he had done to Grace. At some point she must tell him. But also why she decided to leave her hatred for him behind.

Thankfully, it was easy to follow the older Salvatore as he wasn't paying much attention. Adding, Grace learnt some stealth tricks while tracking down werewolves together with Klaus.

At a clearing in the middle of the woods he stopped, answering his phone. It was Elena, but Grace didn't listen into the conversation. She roamed the clearing with her eyes, sure that this was Damon's goal.

Even tough she awaited the moment for months now, she wasn't prepared at all. She had feared that things would be different, that she wouldn't feel the same way anymore. That it had all been a stupid, immature dream. The feelings she had when she was still human faded with every day, but now they came all crashing back into her. Grace hadn't known him for long, but she always knew that he was the person that inspired the greatest kind of feelings in her.

Her knees went weak when she saw him standing in the middle of the clearing. He appeared out of nowhere, his hands shoved inside the pockets of his pants, jacket and tie neatly fixed. A serious expression, with a hint of amusement was on his face. She almost had forgotten how handsome he was.

Grace forced herself to not move a muscle and eavesdrop. But she couldn't concentrate on the conversation. She got the most important snippets, it was clear that Damon's agenda was opening the last coffin and he asked for Elijah's help in the matter. The Original agreed partly, he would buy him some time by organizing a little dinner party.

Damon left after the men both nodded a goodbye. This was Grace's chance. She could talk to him alone, without anyone listening in. Just as Elijah turned around to leave, Grace appeared behind him.

Suddenly, they were face to face. Elijah's eyes widened and his lips parted in surprise. Grace didn't want to know how many emotions and expressions were visible on her face. She probably looked damn pathetic. Tears shot into her eyes and threatened to spill.

Both were at a loss of words. They started at each other for what felt like hours, but were mere seconds. His dark brown eyes seemed to melt under her gaze, they were warm now, happy to see Grace alive in front of him.

They waited so long for this moment and now both of them were frozen in motion, not able to do anything than just stare at each other. Silent communication went on between them, they couldn't concentrate on it, but knew that their emotions were similar.

"Elijah."

Grace couldn't bring out anything else out. His name was the only thing left in her mind and it seemed to bring back Elijah's ability to move. He pulled her into his arms and pressed her small frame against his body. Still, he was afraid to hurt her because he didn't know if he had his own strength under control, but she didn't complain. Her cheek touched the fabric of his shirt that covered his collarbone and she was finally welcomed by his significant scent. Like always, he smelled like freshly washed clothing, cologne and his skin; a scent that she would never be able to describe.

Grace panted as her tears wetted his shirt and also Elijah's chest rose and fell heavily. He grabbed her by her shoulders and held her a bit away to look at her, before he cupped her cheeks with his hands and placed a desperate kiss on her forehead.

Elijah didn't know what he expected. He had been afraid that she wouldn't look at him the same way as before he left her alone. There was a change in her, but it surely didn't concern her feelings for him. He also still felt exactly the same, maybe even stronger.

"You're here..."

Her voice still was barely a whisper. She couldn't exactly speak that clearly, as her voice threatened to be broken by sobs. For Elijah it was the most beautiful sound. Hearing her voice was like music to his ears, he longed to hear it since he woke up in this coffin.

"I'm here."

Quickly, he examined her more closely. Checking that she was ok was like a pure instinct. Thankfully she seemed unhurt, but her outer shape of course didn't give any evidence to how shadowed her soul was. She started to shiver and immediately, Elijah got out of his jacket and wrapped it around her tiny shoulders.

It was the first time in months that Grace let her guard down. Right now, she was nothing more than a scared girl that was head over heels with this incredible man in front of her. She felt so small and vulnerable, but Elijah's presence made her feel safe.

"I...I don't freeze...anymore."

Grace smiled lightly, but pulled the jacket of his suit tightly around her. She wasn't cold, but still it gave her the warmth she so desperately needed.

Sometimes Elijah simply forgot that she was like him now. Grace had time to adjust to this situation, but for Elijah it was still like it was yesterday that Klaus took her life. The rage about it was still the same.

Slowly, she lifted her hand and carefully stroke over his high cheekbone. Her hand shook, afraid that he could vanish if she'd touched him. That this was all just a dream. But it wasn't. He still was there when she felt his soft skin under fingertips.

"I like the haircut."

It was so silly to say at that moment, it made them both chuckle. In unison, they lowered themselves to the grass covered ground. Elijah pulled her on his lap and intervened their fingers. His thumb caressed the back of her hand.

At first, it felt so strange. There was clearly an atmosphere of hesitation and maybe even a bit distance settled, but at the same time they felt so close. Touching each other, simply feeling their presence felt indescribably amazing.

"I'm sorry that I didn't come to see you straight away. To be honest I was afraid, that you don't wish to see me."

This thought was so ironic. She snorted and looked up into the blue sky shortly. For all those time she fought to free him and he was actually thinking that she had drifted apart from him. But he probably didn't know about the extent of what she had done yet. She would've preferred to stay that way. He shouldn't know what kind of monster she had become.

"Elijah, I spent the last three months trying to free you. Of course I want to see you."

Again she cupped his cheek with her hand. His freshly shaved skin felt so good against the sensitive tips of her fingers.

"I've broke all the promises I gave you. The evening before...my brother put a dagger in my heart...I said I would teach you. That I would show you what this life is like. But you had to learn it all on your own. The hardest way possible. I'm so sorry, Grace."

Now it was his usually strong voice that grew weak. Guilt squeezed his heart. He never wanted this for her. She had to endure turning into a vampire and afterwards she was all on her own. Elijah had disappointed the woman he cared so deeply for and he couldn't imagine how he should forgive himself for that.

"You put it right. Klaus did this to you. I don't know what he had told you yet, but honestly, I'm not good at being a vampire. I killed so many people, Elijah. Sometimes for Klaus, sometimes because I couldn't control myself. I have no clue how I can still look at myself in the mirror. Probably because it became dull after some time..."

Tears came up again as she was finally starting to process what had happened the last few months. Elijah immediately saw her sadness and pulled her into an embrace to comfort her. Lightly, he stroke her long, soft hair.

"The way you're acting clearly shows me that you do care. You feel guilty, but of all people, you aren't to be blamed. It was my family who brought this upon you, Grace. I intend to change that."

Grace quickly wiped the tears away and looked up panicked.

"I've heard you talking to Damon. Elijah, please, don't try to kill your brother again. I won't let you."

Elijah frowned at her reaction. Niklaus had already told him that he had grown a liking into Grace, but the older brother wouldn't have believed that she would return this friendly feelings, concerning everything he had done to her.

"You truly have forgiven him?"

She sighed and leaned back.

"Forgiveness is a huge word, Elijah. What he did to me is nothing that could ever be forgiven, but I found out that behind this facade of a ruthless killer, Klaus is nothing but a lonely child that has witnessed too much cruelty. I tried my best to convince him that he needs his family. Seems like I failed miserably. He was still so afraid of facing you, that he continued leaving you in this damn box."

A proud smile crossed Elijah's face. It was a part of Grace's beauty. Even if she saw herself as a monster, the core of her soul was the brightest he has ever seen. She saw the good in Klaus Mikaelson, while he himself, his noble brother had given up on him. Grace inspired him to pick his agenda up again. Together with her, he could save Klaus.

"I do not intend to kill him. It was the greatest mistake I ever made, in many ways. It was my own doing that Niklaus daggered me. My greatest regret is that it affected you. But Grace, what he did to the rest of my family. He needs punishment in a way."

She looked down to the ground. Elijah was right. Klaus simply took the chance to live from his siblings. She remembered how it looked like inside his head when she was sucked into his mind while she dreamt.

Speaking of the devil, just as they wanted to continue their conversation, Grace phone started buzzing, showing Klaus' name on the display. Annoyed, she declined the call and put it back in her pocket, only to meet Elijah's confused gaze. She rolled her eyes.

"The bastard didn't tell me that he got the coffins back and that you're undaggered. After all I've done for him...Seriously, I went behind my own families' back to help him. He knew how I feel for you. I'm mad."

Concerned, he looked at her more closely. What he never doubted was Grace's connection to her family. They both had a similar connotation of the importance of family. Her words alerted him.

"What do you mean by 'going behind you families's back'?"

She avoided his eyes and swallowed. Way too sensitive subject. Grace didn't know herself how she should feel about Elena.

"Let's say my sister doesn't really like my vampire-self. What she can even less understand is that I'm not hell bent on killing Klaus. She did some other things that were way over the top and now we aren't on speaking terms."

He nodded and stayed silent for a while, thinking about what she just said.

"I never expected Elena to be a person that's lacking acceptance. She has no clue what she's missing."

Suddenly, the tension was back. The electricity sparked again and butterflies flew wild loopings in Grace's stomach. She looked up into his eyes and she desired to feel his lips on hers. Elijah's eyes expressed exactly what she was feeling.

But of course her phone had to ring again. Of course it broke their moment. Groaning, she pulled out her phone and answered.

"Damn it, Klaus! We were just having a moment. Thanks for the turn off. What do you want?"

Elijah laughed and she could literally hear Klaus wanting to vomit through the phone.

"Oh nothing, just wanted to hear if you have already reunited with your undying love. I have my answer."

"...Good. Just for you to know, I'm not talking to you. Yes, I'm mad at you. Bye, Klaus."

Before he could reply anything, she ended the call. Oh, how long she wanted to hang up on him this way. Grinning she sat up.

"He killed people for less."

Elijah said amused and all of a sudden grabbed her by her waist to help her to her feet. Always the gentleman. But in such a hot way. With him it was like a rollercoaster. At one moment, she cried, not sure if it was joy or simply helplessness. The other, she felt so damn attracted to him that she wanted to let herself be consumed by the fire that surrounded them.

"Hm, I've said worse things to him. Still, I'm here."

She shrugged. It felt a little bit strange for him that Klaus and Grace were getting along so well. He was happy that they did, but still he wasn't sure where the boarder was where he should fear for her life. But Elijah could assume that Grace was an untouchable matter for his brother.

"You have heard Damon and I talking about the dinner tonight, haven't you? Would you like to come?"

Elijah buried his hands back into his pockets. It felt literally painful not to touch her. But he didn't want to overwhelm her with his affection.

"Of course. You guys will rip out each other's throats without my observation. Will be a busy night."

Her smile turned slightly devilish. It was something Elijah never had seen before on her. He had to admit that he felt attracted to her darker side and wanted to explore it. She also had yet to see his own darker self. It filled him with excitement that they would finally be able to discover each other fully.

"Yes, Klaus already filled me in on Stefan's doings. Things have immensely changed, it seems."

Grace nodded. How right he was. People had went crazy. Including herself. She hoped he wouldn't be too scared away by her maniac ways, because she promised herself to not hide it from him. Grace had changed and he deserved to know. She wanted to be honest with him in every way.

For now, she needed to prepare for the dinner. She wanted to look stunning. Grace stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on his cheek sweetly.

"See you later, Elijah."

With a wide, lovesick grin on her face, she disappeared into the woods. She never could've imagined how much joy it could bring to speak to him.


	28. Chapter 28

Grace was in a hurry to prepare herself. After the rush of joy faded a bit, she realized that she had less than an hour to get ready. But like always, she mastered her styling to perfection given the shirt amount of time. She looked steaming hot in the tight, short dress she wore. Foolishly, she tried to impress a certain suited Original vampire with it.

Before she went out, she quickly went to the fridge where she stored an emergency amount of blood, hidden in an usual glass bottle. She desperately waited for the moment someone would mistaken it for ketchup or tomato juice. Smiling at the thought she fixed herself a huge glass and drank it, to prepare herself. Wherever Klaus was, there was bloodshed and she couldn't allow herself to have her mind clouded, considering that being close to Elijah had the exact same effect.

Of course Elena had to come into the kitchen just as she drank in deep gulps. The veins around pulsated, despite the fact that the cold blood tasted quite dull. Rolling her eyes, she put the glass down. But then she asked herself why she was actually hiding her true nature in front of her sister. She didn't accept her this way anyway, so why did she bother?

Licking her lips, she filled herself another shot just to provoke Elena.

"Heading out?"

The doppelgänger asked while inspecting Grace's outfit. Her skin got a bit paler when her eyes stuck on the blood her older sister was consuming.

"Yes. Elijah is buying your boyfriends time to open the coffins. I'll see how I can keep them from messing things up."

Elena lifted a brow and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Great, the judging look. It annoyed Grace to a point where she simply wanted to slap her.

"Grace, seriously, where do you stand? One day, you're besties with the man that killed half your family and yourself, the other you go behind his back. I can't follow it anymore."

She really seemed to be interested in it. It was clear that Elena didn't want to pick up a fight, but how she chose her words, always leaving Grace as the bad one in this, was driving her nuts.

"Oh, can't be more confusing than following which brother you choose for lover of the day."

Sarcasm dripped off her voice as she shot back.

"...I'm on no ones side, Elena. I finally want peace for us. No more corpses. But right now everyone seems hell bent on making everything worse."

Grace walked closer to Elena and she saw fear visible in her eyes. Smiling bitterly, she shook her head and Elena's expression changed. She couldn't look her sister in the eyes anymore, she felt guilty for being frightened of her. Grace was after all her sister. Maybe Elena would finally see that Grace wasn't the problem in this.

The sister's stared at each other for a while before the older one took off without another word.

She arrived at the Mikaelson estate just as the Salvatores started to linger around in the front yard. A smirk crept up Grace's face as she saw them. With her chin high, she joined them.

"Good evening, boys."

Her tone was nearly mocking. It ripped the brothers out of their obvious quarrel. They looked her up and down.

"What are you doing here?"

Stefan said, nearly annoyed. Grace was an unpredictable force, they could never know on which side she recently played.

"I'm going to enjoy a nice, civilized dinner with my friends."

She send them a sweet smile to which they both rolled their eyes.

"We aren't friends, Grace."

The younger brother's voice was cold. He was in ripper mode, she needed to be careful. This game he played with Klaus would probably end in a lot of bloodshed. Without giving any emotion away, Grace stepped closer to them.

"Well, then see me as the one who tries to keep you boys in check. Otherwise I have to smack this ridiculously expensive bottle of wine on your heads. Let's not temper the waste, shall we?"

She held up the bottle of red wine from her father's stack. It was intended do be a housewarming gift, but she wouldn't hesitate to use it as a weapon, if they ignored her threat.

"Sometimes I ask myself if you being a backstabbing bitch is connected to your relation with Katherine Pierce or if it's Klaus brainwash."

Damon shot back and just as Grace thought about knocking him out with the bottle and ruining his appearance with a nice wine stain, the door flew open to reveal Elijah. He directed a cool smile towards the brothers.

"Is that a way to treat a lady?"

A smile tugged on her lips when she saw the threat that was obvious in his gaze. He would rip their heads off just for insulting Grace.

"Believe me, she isn't a lady."

Damon mumbled as he passed by Elijah and went inside together with Stefan. The Original's expression shifted when his gaze fell on the girl he cared for deeply. He smiled genuinely and Grace returned it. She walked up the stairs up to the door and came to a halt in front of him.

While Klaus and the Salvatores started their bickering, Grace and Elijah looked at each other. He only broke the eye contact to take her hand and lift it. Before he raised it to his lips, he examined the ring and bracelet he had given to her, happy to see that she still wore them. He placed a faint kiss on the back of her hand. Her skin felt so warm where he touched her, but it made her miss his touch even more when he let go of her, to keep up the act in front of the Salvatores. They were actually acting pretty badly, as it was obvious for anyone who spared a closer look that sparks flew between the Original vampire and the oldest Gilbert sibling. Fortunately, the Salvatores were too distracted by their bickering with each other and Klaus.

When Elijah and Grace joined the others in the dining room, a wide grin spread on Klaus' face as he saw his friend. He walked towards her and lightly placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Gracie! Thanks for coming."

The hybrid kissed her on her cheek. Grace rolled her eyes but didn't deny it. Both the Salvatores made a disgusted face, which Grace found damn funny.

She handed him the bottle of wine without saying anything, because she still wasn't sure if she wanted to speak to him. Grace still trusted him, but him being silent about return of the coffins ripped some old wounds open.

Elijah pulled out a chair for her like the perfect gentleman. She thanked him as she sat down. His eyes lingered on her body a second to long, which made her flush slightly.

Klaus took a seat to her left, while Elijah stayed to her right. The Salvatores sat opposite her, both glancing suspiciously at the unlikely trio. Damon's glance quickly adverted to the busty blonde waitress that nearly shoved her boobs in his face while pouring him wine. If she tried something similar with Elijah, Grace would test some fancy ways to rip arteries open on her.

She was distracted from her torture fantasies, when Elijah's hand touched her bare knee. A shiver ran down her spine. What this man could do to her by only touching her was unbelievable. His thumb stroked a teasing pattern on her skin and her mouth turned slightly dry. Raising her glass of wine to her lips, she tried to hide her smile.

The food was served and Elijah let go of her, which made her ability to concentrate come back. She couldn't help but feel touched when she saw what was on the plate. The men all had a steak with salad in front of them. But Klaus had remembered that she didn't like beef in any way that much and ordered a very well looking pasta with chicken slices for her. He really had gotten to know her over the past few months and her anger melted.

"Isn't it nice? The five of us dining together. What a treat. Is this what you had in mind when pulling out the dagger out of my brother?"

This wicked smile Klaus had on his face never faded as he ate. He was thankfully playing nice for now, but it as she knew him, it wouldn't last for long.

"Well I knew how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier."

Damon winked at Elijah, who replied with an annoyed glance. Sometimes Damon Salvatore was the master of inconspicuousness.

"We always it through our quarrels, don't we, brother?"

"...kind of like you and Rebekah, huh? Where's she actually? Last time I checked she was still daggered in a box, because you're too afraid to face her?"

Stefan chirped in. They weren't here for longer than fifteen minutes and still Stefan was already trying to push Klaus' buttons. Damon and Grace shot him serious glares.

"If you're trying to imply the fact that I killed our mother, I already came clean to Elijah."

Concerned, Grace looked at Elijah. It probably wasn't easy for him to process this. A thousand year old lie was pretty weighty. He gave her a calming nod as he continued to chew. Sometimes it still surprised her that after this short amount of time they spent together, they could communicate silently.

"Hey Stef, remember when you killed dad? Might wait with the judgment until desert."

Finally Damon shut his idiot of a brother. Stefan was on his way to getting killed after the meal if he continued like that.

They continued eating their flawless meals in silence. Grace felt Elijah's eyes on her from time to time which gave her goosebumps. Klaus seemed to notice it and observed them. Grace had no clue how she should enjoy the food with two men staring at her the whole time.

When the plates were emptied, the waitresses took away the dishes. Before awkward silence could set in, Elijah started to speak.

"Stefan, where's Elena tonight?"

Grace sighed when he mentioned her sister's name. She knew he didn't do it on purpose, he was just trying to get the conversation the the important parts.

"I don't know, ask Damon."

Elijah lifted a brow in confusion and Grace and Klaus chuckled in unison, like it was their personal inside jokes. Both Salvatores shot her death glares, but she couldn't care less.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you missed so much..."

Klaus said amused.

"...Trouble in paradise."

Grace added. She and Klaus exchanged a glance. Elijah couldn't help but admire their bond.

"Maybe we should leave Elena on the do not discuss pile."

Damon said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yes, please."

Nodding vigorously, suppressing her grin. But Klaus couldn't hide his amusement properly, he continued to chuckle.

"It's just the allure of the Petrova doppelgänger. Shall we tell them about Tatia, brother?"

Elijah suddenly tensed next to her, obviously comfortable. Frowning, Grace looked at him, but he avoided her eyes. Instead her squeezed her knee again, like apologized for the upcoming conversation.

"Now, why should we discuss matters long since resolved?"

It was then when Grace understood. They didn't come to the exes talk yet and this was probably the most awkward way to have it.

"Given their shared affection for both Elena and Katerina...Why not?"

Sighing, Elijah shot Klaus a glare. He would have a talk with him later one for forcing him into his situation with Grace present. Clearing his throat, he told the story about the first doppelgänger and the story they had with her.

Grace shifted on her seat uncomfortably. She wasn't jealous in a sense, because this girl was dead for a thousand year now, but it wasn't the brightest thought that Elijah had been in love with a woman that looked exactly like her sister.

He send her an apologetic gaze, but she just shook her head slightly, without anyone else noticing, to tell him that she was ok. She was relieved when it was over, hopefully they wouldn't have to talk about the matter ever again.

"Wait, so you both loved the same girl?"

Now it was Stefan's turn to be amused. What a hypocrite.

"Stones and glasshouses, Stefan."

His eyes darted towards her as she shot back and it thankfully silenced him.

"...But in the end, we recognized the sacred bond of family. Family above all."

Elijah eased the tension by raising his glass. Klaus and Grace clinked their with his.

"So why don't we discuss the terms of this proposal?"

He continued when they sat down their glasses.

"It's easy. Klaus gets his coffin back, in return, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever."

Grace's hand curled into a fist when Damon came clean with his side of the deal. She just had Elijah back, she wasn't up for a long distance relationship. Anyway, despite their continuing fights, she couldn't leave Elena alone with those idiots pushing her around like a doll.

But what Damon stated was the best for everyone, she knew it.

When Elijah noticed her tension, he gently placed his hand onto hers. With a sigh, Grace calmed a bit and took his hand.

"Deal sounds fair, brother."

It was obvious that he didn't mean it like that. His eyes were on Grace for the whole time. He was torn between asking her to come with him and keeping restraint.

"I don't think you understand. Let's say I leave Elena here under your protection. Who he'll be the first to turn her into a vampire? Or worse, that she dies caught between your feud. I need her blood to make hybrids, so I can't have that. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is you."

Another kind of tension came up in the room. Klaus was completely right with what he said. It was probably the best for her to get all the vampires out of her life, including Grace herself. But of course the Salvatores were too selfish for that.

"I'm gonna get some air."

Damon said grimly and disappeared out of the room. Elijah followed shortly after to handle the older Salvatore. Grace stayed seated until Klaus started some bloodlust games with Stefan, as he bit into one of the waitresses' necks. The smell of blood nearly overwhelmed her, but she hid it perfectly. She stood up elegantly and patted Klaus' back before joining Elijah and Damon outside. The older Salvatore brother was already on his way back in, leaving Elijah time to fill in Grace.

"Come, we don't have much time left."

He grabbed her hand and silently led her to a room. Surprised, she saw that it inhabited the last three coffins.

"Are you really..."

"Yes."

Elijah said determined and opened the lid of the first coffin, revealing a younger looking brother and pulled out the dagger from his chest. Quickly, Grace mimicked his movements, waking Rebekah from her slumber. They were finished soon and were about to leave Elijah's siblings to wake up, but he stopped her before she could exit. He cupped her face with his hands.

"Thank you, Grace. I it's not easy for you to be torn between your sides. Believe me, I understand it. But I please, stay back if things are getting...ugly."

This would result in violence, he made that clear. At least the Originals couldn't truly kill each other, which just left the Salvatores endangered. She didn't want them dead, but at this point, she didn't care that much anymore, so she nodded before taking his hand back in hers.

"Now it's your time to counter, Klaus. Put something on the table."

Damon spoke as they entered the dining room again. Grace and Elijah stood behind Klaus, who had taken a seat again.

"I offer Elena's future happiness. You know, what she needs right now is to get rid of you lot and to fall in love with a human. Maybe that nice football player, you know, the blonde one?"

He winked at Grace.

"Matt Donovan."

She filled in the name. Damon just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, why not. They'll live a perfectly healthy human life and pop up a perfect family. Continuing the Petrova bloodline."

"...giving you a new doppelgänger every some centuries to drain."

Stefan draw the conclusion. The Salvatores looked at the hybrid as if he was oblivious, but actually it was a very good idea.

"Let's regard it as payment for my investment in her well being. See, I will ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life."

"...I will keep her safe."

Grace added before the Salvatores could complain. Again she had both of them glaring at her.

"As if you have any interest in keeping her safe."

Damon spat, and Grace's upper lip twitched in anger.

"At least I'm not so selfish and do not see when it's best to leave her. Which I will do when it's time. Don't forget, I'm her sister and unlike you, I care for her well being, if she likes my ways or not."

Elijah squeezed her hand, he could imagine how hard it was for her to talk about this.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Slowly, Stefan walked towards the hybrid and placed his hand in his. They stared at each other and a satisfied grin appeared on Klaus's face. Grace held her breath, the tension had gotten the best of her.

"Nice try, Klaus, but no deal."

Suddenly, the tension changed into an atmosphere of violence and Klaus grabbed Stefan by his arms and held his hand into the fire burning in the chimney. The younger Salvatore struggled, but Klaus was way stronger than him.

Elijah pinned Damon to the wall by his throat before he came running to help his brother, while Grace stayed unmoving, trying to keep her face as cool and emotionless as she could. Damon's glare switched between her and Elijah. Both stared at him to keep his mouth shut.

"Now, get me the coffin."

Klaus was done playing games. He wouldn't bargain anymore, the death threats were becoming real. She wondered how he kept it up for so long, Klaus could kill both brothers at his worst day.

"Elijah, keep him honest."

Without replying anything, Damon and Elijah went away, the Salvatore bumping intentionally into the Mikaelson's shoulder hard. Damon probably didn't know what they had done before.

Grace stayed behind and fell into an armchair, inspecting her nails casually while Klaus and Stefan bickered on. But Elijah came back quickly with Damon and one of the waitresses who held a tray in her hands.

A mixture of rage and confusion was on the hybrid's face.

"Where are our manners, Niklaus? We forgot about desert."

Grace smiled wickedly. His arrogance and elegance were so fitting in this moment, it was so damn hot. She had a deja vu to another dinner party some months ago, on the night that led to her becoming a vampire, just with the roles reversed.

He pulled the loth off the plate to reveal two daggers on it. Klaus face was priceless. He stumbled backwards with his eyes wide open.

"...We're doing this on my terms now."

Elijah said just as the younger brother came in, walking self confidently. He looked just like a younger version of Elijah.

"Kol..."

Klaus gasped, but before they came face to face, a man that was closer to Elijah's age shot forward and stabbed a dagger to Klaus' hand. He screamed and stumbled, only to be stopped by Rebekah who also had a dagger in her hand and used it to hurt her brother with it.

A smile came to Grace's face when she saw the blonde. She had actually missed her.

"This is for our mother."

Rebekah said with a stern expression, her famous attitude written all over her.

"You're free to go. This is family business."

Elijah had a wicked smile on his face that remembered Grace so much of Klaus. they were brothers after all.

She stood up to leave, too, but Elijah stopped her gently.

"You're a part of this, my love. But I understand if you don't want to stay."

He pushed a strand of hair out of her face and Grace lightly shook her head. It was a good idea to stay. She could get her little revenge for Klaus not telling her about the coffins, but at the same time, she could interfere if this got too much.

Sighing, she took one of the bottles of wine and filled some glasses to distract herself. She didn't enjoy seeing her friend being tortured, even if he deserved it. When they were finally done, she handed them all the glasses.

"Hi Grace."

Rebekah smiled sweetly at her.

"Hi Beks. Good to see you."

They clinked glasses. Afterwards, Elijah's arm wrapped around her waist. They finally could drop the act, everyone in the room could know about their relationship...or whatever they called it.

"I built this to be a home for as all. So we don't have to be alone anymore."

Klaus was desperate, it was obvious. Grace could've sworn that suppressed sobs made his voice rough.

"None of us will be. We'll leave you, Nik."

Rebekah stated, glaring at her brother. All of his siblings stared the hybrid down.

"I will hunt you down! All of you! I know your weaknesses."

Klaus' gaze fell directly onto Grace and she felt Elijah tense next to her. He instinctively pulled her closer to him. But Grace knew that Klaus was just lashing out. He wouldn't hurt her.

"...And become all what you hated. Father."

Elijah shot back. Salt to an open wound, it made Klaus flinch.

"I have nothing to fear from you!"

The hybrid yelled, tears running down his cheeks. Never before had she seen Klaus that vulnerable.

"You have, when we get this coffin."

Klaus's eyes widened again and Grace had enough. The words slipped out of her mouth before she could think them over, but didn't regret them.

"Oh come on, give him a break!"

Now all eyes were on her. Klaus' gaze softened a bit, Rebekah rolled her eyes and the other brother's shot her arrogant glares. She couldn't see Elijah, but he still held close onto her.

But thankfully, the attention was quickly shifted away from her when the door behind them opened and someone stepped inside. They all froze in movement when they saw who it was. The person was oddly familiar for Grace, but in a distant way, so she looked around confused.

She heard Rebekah whisper 'mother' and Grace understood. The young vampire had seen the woman in Rebekah's memories. Who was this possible? Klaus had killed her.

Immediately, Grace saw that this was her cue to leave. This was getting way to much of family business for her to participate. She lightly tugged on Elijah's hand.

"I will see you tomorrow."

She whispered and he was shortly ripped out of surprise. He nodded understanding and squeezed her hand once more before he let go of her.


	29. Chapter 29

It was surprising how Elijah's presence calmed her. For Grace it was the first night in three months that she slept halfway peacefully. Of course the faces of her victims and all the blood she spilled haunted her in her dreams, but it seemed like the suited Original was her anchor that helped her keeping the ghosts apart from the living.

When she woke up, she looked in the mirror and saw that the certain 'glow' was back on her. Happiness was written all over her face. Being in love really changed a person. Grace knew that it was all damn complicated but when she saw him, the hope that everything could become better came back. In between all these twisted feelings, it sometimes felt so simple with Elijah. They cared deeply for each other.

Quickly, she got dressed and without eating breakfast, she went out of the house, directed towards the grill. She wanted to grab some coffee before she would get to the Mikaelson estate. The only reason why she was eager to leave her home was that she didn't want her mood being ruined by Elena.

As she walked on the sidewalk, she heard a car pulling up from behind her. It slowed when next to her. At first, she was suspicious as she didn't recognize the huge, black Porsche with an engine that sounded like it spilled dollar bills, but when the window rolled down and she saw the driver's face, she relaxed, a wide smile creeping up her face.

Elijah returned it while he looked into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Good morning, Miss Gilbert. Come in, we have work to do."

She bit her lip as a joyful laugh threatened to escape from her lips. The young vampire had no idea what he wanted to do, so she thought a little bit of teasing would be alright.

"I'm told not to talk to strangers who want to lure me into their car. Especially if they're good looking."

Grace leaned on the window. Her smile seemed to light up the whole town. Elijah was tempted to simply kiss those full lips that were waiting for only him. But it wasn't the right time for that. With her, he wanted it to be perfect. She deserved nothing less.

"Well, am I a stranger?"

He went in for the tease. It felt so natural between them. Like that hadn't just been apart for months.

"No, but you're particularly good looking. And you're trying to lure me into your car."

They both chuckled.

"But I brought coffee. And a sandwich."

He motioned for the two large cups in the middle of the car and the paper back on the passenger seat. Elijah had stood up early to make her breakfast, having guessed that she would come looking for him right after getting out of bed. He didn't want her to be hungry.

"That, Mr Mikaelson, convinces me."

She walked around the car and jumped inside. Even her long legs seemed too short for the massive, bulky car. The interior was rather luxury. It fitted its driver.

"Hi."

Grace said shyly and kissed him on his cheek. Those sparks that brought all this tension never seemed to cease. It was then when she realized that she even missed him in the short hours of the night. When she woke up, there was a split second where she was afraid that it all had been a dream and that he was still gone.

Elijah stared at her and Grace considered a steamy make out session. The car definitely gave enough space for it, but she quickly threw the thought away. Not the right time.

She leaned back into the comfortable seat and looked around. The engine started when Elijah's foot went off the break and the car started rolling again.

"How do you manage to get such a car within a day? Doesn't it usually take weeks? I mean, Klaus built a damn palace within less than a month, so what do I wonder?"

Grace unpacked the sandwich and bit into it. She was touched by the gesture and it tasted amazing. She could get used to that.

"You still have to learn some things about the life of vampires. Compulsion is something that makes things easier. Don't worry, I paid the car of course. But in this case I helped quickening the process."

She nodded and took a sip of coffee. Usually she wasn't a coffee person, but sometimes it was necessary. Of course he had guessed right that she liked it with a lot of milk, no sugar.

"...which leads to our agenda for today. Niklaus told me you have trouble feeding. I also promised you that I will teach you and that's what I'll do today."

"What else does Nik tell about me?"

Grace asked curiously. There wasn't anything catchy that he could tell Elijah, but still the sly bastard could've made something up just to annoy his brother.

"Not much. Just that you have an admiring ability to forgive concerning what my brother has done to you."

He spared her a side glance and she saw that he knew about everything. It was good, so she wouldn't have to live through all of it again to tell him. But there was anger in his eyes and Grace wanted nothing more than to know his family finally at peace.

Thankfully he changed the topic immediately.

"Before I forget, I have something for you."

From the pocket of his jacket and pulled out an envelope. Grace frowned and wiped her hands on her jeans before she took the thick paper. Curiously, she opened it to see an elegantly designed invitation.

"A ball? Really?"

She pulled up her brows to which Elijah chuckled.

"My mother has a sense for the dramatic. She wants to celebrate our families' reunion. I wanted to keep you out of it, but mother insisted."

Smiling, she stroked over the heavy paper. It literally screamed expensive and extravagant.

"No, it's alright. Good opportunity to keep your family involved with the town's society. I just don't have a fitting dress for the occasion."

They reached the parking lot of a diner outside Mystic Falls and Elijah turned off the engine. It wasn't probably the best place, as the luxurious car really stood out.

"This won't take long. You'll have time to look for something. Please, just take Rebekah with you. She was asking the whole morning when I would ask you to be my...companion in this, telling me that you're such a good advisor concerning style."

He allowed his eyes to wander over her flawless body. His mouth turned dry as he followed the endless line of her legs. Grace tried heard to keep her breathing even. How much just a gaze of him could do with her.

"Yes, of course. As Rebekah and Klaus are my only friends, I would prefer your sister to help me choose something."

Elijah nodded and they exited the car. He took her hand in hers and they exchanged a short glance before they got into the diner.

The Original vampire was so out of place here in his suit and overall elegant appearance. The diner was mostly empty. Just two customers sat at the tables, reading a newspaper and drinking coffee. A waitress was cleaning cups behind the counter.

Grace and Elijah sat beside each other in a booth that was perfectly hidden from any curious glances. He could've chosen a more private place like the woods with hikers as their victims, but Grace needed a crash course. They could work on perfection later one. Elijah could already see that her cheeks were paler than the day before.

Her fingers were trembling. Grace was terribly afraid to disappoint Elijah and kill another person. Lightly, he squeezed her hand.

"The waitress. She's a good choice for today."

Just as he mentioned her, the young lady appeared beside them. Her gaze lit up when she saw the attractive man. She eyed his formal clothing a bit confused, but when Elijah flashed her a ravishing smile, she couldn't look away. The girl didn't even notice Grace.

"What can I get you?"

"Nothing, darling. Why don't you sit with us?"

His voice got a special tone as he was compelling her. Grace tried to keep that in mind, maybe she could mimic it.

The waitress nodded and Elijah stood up to let her sit in between him and Grace. No one could see them, so it struck none of the guests odd.

Elijah propped his elbow up on the table so his broad shoulder hid Grace and the waitress. Her gaze was already fixed on her throat. She could hear her strong heart beating, her carotid pulsated under her fair skin. Her blood was singing to her, urging her to take what she wanted.

"You need to compel her so she won't scream."

With his calm voice, he ripped her out of her beginning ecstasy. Her fangs involuntarily pierced her bottom lip.

"I can't. I don't know how."

She whispered, her eyes darkening in bloodlust. Anger rose in Elijah. No one had bothered to teach her anything. Not even Niklaus and he dared to call her his friend. The Salvatores were also too distracted to even think about the girl that had been pushed into all of this. Not even Elijah himself could keep his promise. Grace had been all on her own in this important phase of a newborn vampire.

"You can. It's in your instincts. Just let them take over, you know exactly what to do."

Grace forced herself to remember what it felt like when she accidentally tried to compel Elena. But of course it didn't work. The more she concentrated, the less her powers would listen to her.

Elijah placed his hand on her cheek, making her look at him. He created an atmosphere of calmness. She felt so safe, like she all the time in the world. It gave her self confidence.

Suddenly, she knew what to do. It was like finding the last piece of a puzzle.

"Don't scream."

Looking the girl in the eyes, she said confidently. Never before had she heard herself speaking like that. Like she was completely convinced that what she said was reality. The waitresses' pupils dilated and Grace knew it worked. Satisfaction washed over her.

A proud smile danced on Elijah's lips. She was a quick learner.

Grace opened her mouth slightly before she bit into her neck. The same procedure as every time she fed happened. The bloodlust took over her and she forgot about every sense of dignity, loosing control, not knowing when to stop.

Elijah allowed himself to indulge in the sight of Grace in her true nature. It had something arousing, the way she satisfied her needs. The smell of blood tickled his senses and he remembered the moment when he drank from her. How sweet she tasted. The way she gave into the attraction, willing to share her life essence with him.

He need all of his self control to rip his eyes from the scene in front of him.

"Grace."

His voice was barely a whisper. Elijah lightly stroked her hair to get her back to reality.

In Grace's head he sounded from so far away, she could barely hear him. She dug her nails deeper into the girl's clothes.

"Grace, look at me."

Now she could clearly hear him, it was like the spell that held her with an iron grip loosened. He meant everything to her, maybe that's why he could rip her out of the ecstasy.

Suddenly, she ripped away and stared directly into Elijah's eyes. Her lips were smeared with blood and she way far away from having enough. His thumb stroke the blood away from her lips and then he did something that made Grace's stomach spasm in a very pleasurable way. He licked the blood from his thumb, never leaving her eyes.

"I want to share with you."

She whispered. He didn't reply anything, so at first she thought he would refuse. But then he took the girl's hand and he shortly tilted his head and his lips curled up to reveal perfectly white fangs. Of course he control his vampire face. He didn't bother with sharp teeth damaging his soft lips. Well, he had a thousand years of experience.

In unison they bit down into the girls skin and drank for a short moment. Without evening noticing, they moved closer to each other.

This time, it was easier to break away from Grace. Because they had drained her off a lot of blood, Elijah pulled back his sleeve, before biting into his own wrist and feeding the waitress his blood.

Grace erased the girl's memory of what just happened. Not even ten minutes had passed before they left the diner again.

When they entered the parking lot, Grace suddenly jumped up and wrapped her arms around Elijah's neck. Those were big steps towards control for her. She hadn't killed the girl and she had enjoyed feeding for the first time. Of course she did, this was probably the steamiest thing she ever experienced. It made her want Elijah even more and she had no clue how she should hide that her hormones resembled those of a horny teenager. Another vampire thing. Those needs also intensified.

"Thank you."

After they hurried back to Mystic Falls, Elijah had given her the keys to the Porsche. Rebekah was already waiting. After a chatty drive with a lot catching up, the girls arrived at the closest store that sold ballgowns. They also had bridal fashion and of course Rebekah had to roam through the beautiful white dresses first. As if they had loads of time.

"I always wanted to marry. It's a pity that in a thousand years I haven't gotten to it. Do you wish to marry in the future?"

Rebekah asked the sensitive question straight away. Grace swallowed and looked around awkwardly. She actually never had the time to think about things like this. It so much depended on the relationship. With Elijah she wasn't even close to a stage of were the question would come into line. They just had each other back for a day.

"Come on, we don't have time for this."

She said through gritted teeth and Rebekah laughed.

"Relax, I was joking. But Gracie, we have to make something clear. He's my brother and I'll rip your heart out if you hurt him. Nik would do the same. No, you could probably do anything and he would still adore you. Anyway, as you're my friend, I would do the same if it was the other way around."

The blonde winked at her and Grace immediately relaxed. It was good to have Rebekah, she was such a lovely person. Of course, she was a tad bit crazy and had her bitchy moments, but Grace liked that about her. The Originals all were surprisingly loyal friends.

"I'll do my best."

Grace laughed and went through the rows of dresses. Shopping calmed her. After she developed her sense of style, it kept her mind busy in a nice way. Rebekah on the other hand grew rather frustrated quickly. She hadn't had the time to find her sense of fashion for the 21st century yet, so Grace decided to help her first.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, they had found three dresses Rebekah wanted to try and even quicker, they found a dress that pleased the Original vampire. It was a deep forest green which was tight in the right places and flattered her slim, fit shape. Grace was thrilled to roam through Rebekah's stock of accessory as some vintage pieces would probably be perfect to the outfit.

Rebekah already went on the hunt for shoes because Grace wanted to be alone while she looked for a dress. She would need her opinion later one. With time passing, Grace feared that she wouldn't find the right one here, but then, way in the back of the rows of expensive dresses, she found it. A wide grin spread on her face when she touched the soft fabric.

The joy of finding just the right piece came over her when she put it on. Suddenly, Rebekah's voice came up from behind her and Grace turned around.

"My brother is a really lucky man."

Her friend said with a soft smile on her face after examining Grace closely.


	30. Chapter 30

Nervousness rose inside Grace as she got into her dress. It had been long since she visited public events of this degree, to be honest, she never had been to such a formal event. The Miss Mystic Falls event every year was the only occasion for Mystic Falls' inhabitants to wear fancy dresses and tuxedos.

After she finished her hair and make up, she looked into her huge mirror. She was satisfied with the outcome. Her floor-length emerald-green dress hugged her small curves and complimented her shape. The straps that held the fabric up became narrow where they touched Grace's back and were woven with golden chains, exposing flawless skin up to the middle of her back. The cleavage was deep, just at the degree where it would become scandalous. It was sexy, but at the same time classy and elegant.

Heat rose to her cheeks at the thought of how Elijah would react. She really hoped he would like how she looked this evening.

As the dress was bold enough, she kept jewelry to a minimum. Her bracelet and ring clung to her as usual and small earrings shimmered in the light. Her hair flew in waves around her shoulders. Red lipstick gave the last touch of drama, while she kept her eye make up in nude tones. Her dress already complimented her dark eyes enough.

Grace tried to swallow her nervous habits down as she straightened her dress once more before she went out of her room and down the stairs. Thankfully high heels didn't hurt anymore since she was a vampire.

Elena already waited down the stairs. After Grace arrived from her shopping trip with Rebekah, her sister had told her that she was also invited to the ball to have an audience with Esther. Grace didn't know what to think about it. When she saw the mother the day before, she had a bad feeling in her stomach. But maybe it was just because she was a little frightened to meet Elijah's mother. She surely had to talk with him about that matter.

The sister's both couldn't help but smile and for a moment, it felt like it used to be. Their mother could've walked around the corner and it would have all been normal.

But their mother was dead and Grace was a vampire. Elena loathed the family that she called her friends. Still, it was the first warm gesture in months.

"You look beautiful."

Grace stated, but her smile was slowly fading.

"You, too."

Her sister replied and without saying anything else, they went out of the house. They decided to enjoy the fresh autumn air and walk, as the way wasn't long and there wasn't a breeze outside that could destroy their carefully made hairstyles.

Their heels clicking on the sidewalk was the only sound as they walked. The silence grew awkward and Grace again noticed how estranged she and her sister had become. She hoped one day it would change. But that was probably just wishful thinking, concerning that she wasn't keen on part with the Mikaelsons soon.

The estate was starting to fill with people. Just the person most precious to Elijah hadn't arrived yet. He distracted himself by chatting with the locals that the family had invited. They were all so eager to weasel themselves in their favor, it was annoying.

He eyed Damon Salvatore talking to Carol Lockwood. Of course he tried to insult his family the second he walked inside their home. Elijah was about to interfere and greet the mayor when the doors opened and two brunette beauties, their arms intervened walked in. Damon also turned around and looked at the younger girl in awe.

Elijah's eyes were fixed on his love. Grace was always beautiful, but today she was beyond stunning. He allowed himself to let his gaze wander and take in every inch of her. Saying the dress flattered her was an understatement. Usually he never was at a lack of words, but this girl could change that.

Grace looked shortly to her sister who was immediately taken away by bickering Salvatores, then she was alone. Insecurity rose in her, she didn't know where to go and felt watched. When she looked up to see who was staring at her, all of it was washed away and a wide smile lit up her expression. Elijah couldn't advert his gaze from her. His eyes were on fire, his lips slightly parted. Exactly the reaction Grace wanted to have.

Her smile finally made him break out of being stunned and he remembered his manners. He rushed to her side and held out his arm for her to take. Elena was too distracted by Stefan and Damon fighting about whether she should be here or not, so Grace bit her lip and intervened her arm with Elijah's.

"Miss Gilbert."

His voice was a little rough. He was still a man after all, Grace being in front of him, dressed like this...it was messing with his mind. Elijah had to come up with all of his restrain to keep himself from peeking at her backside.

"Mr. Mikaelson."

She hid a joyful smile and let her own eyes wander him shortly. He rocked that tuxedo. Grace was used to see him in his formal suits, but today he looked like damn royalty. The jacket of the tux was long, nearly touching the back of his knees. A bowtie sat perfectly in place, his hair was slicked back. She wanted nothing more than to comb through it with her fingers...and touch a lot more. Vampire hormones, great. But how couldn't she be attracted to him? He looked even more elegant than usual. It fitted his character perfectly.

They started walking deeper inside the room and Grace examined it in awe. It was damn fine, concerning the short time they had to plan the ball. Small lights illuminated the room and everything looked way too expansive. Even the glasses that carried the champagne could've cost a small fortune.

As they strutted through the crowd, Grace noticed people staring at them. Most of them were people that Grace knew. Sometimes small town life had its disadvantages. Especially when you were, like Grace, a black sheep in the town's society. Now she was here, arm in arm with one of the stranger family that seemed too mysterious for the humans to handle. They had no clue what was going on around them and that this new family were literally the royalty of vampires. Grace sighed and grew a bit tensed, which Elijah immediately noticed. He send her a questioning gaze, to which Grace sighed and shook her head.

"You're afraid that someone will find out about us, aren't you?"

When she heard his words, she knew that this hiding came was ridiculous and that it was hurting him. He wanted to be with her, touch her when they were in public.

"No, I want that everyone knows that we belong together. It's just Elena...I don't know how to tell her. She'll hate me even more."

She lightly stroke his arm.

"If she hates you, her own blood, she can't be helped. It's not your fault."

Grace looked up to him and his eyes was an honesty that she admired. He did nothing just to compliment her. It was a good feeling that she could always trust him.

"...but I understand that you need some time."

Relieved, she relaxed a bit and mouthed a 'thank you'.

"Grace! Elijah! Over here!"

Carol suddenly chirped and waved for the couple. The older Gilbert smiled widely when they reached the mayor and exchanged cheek kisses with her.

"It's good to see you again, Elijah. We all missed you. But Grace missed you the most."

Usually Carol wasn't the overly chatty type, but the champagne loosed her tongue a bit. Grace cheeks reddened a bit when the mayor stated the obvious.

"Thank you, Carol. I'm very happy to be back. I'm sorry for the circumstances that clouded my departure. I never wanted to lie to you, but it was inevitable."

He said friendly and both women smiled. Even tough it all had been a lie, Grace enjoyed thinking back to Elijah and her working together. Of course she fell in love with that man and she adored the man behind the lie even more.

Meanwhile, Elijah let go of her arm, to not show their connection openly in front of Carol. He wanted to keep what they had just talked about. But Grace sighed and simply took his large hand. Carol knew anyway. She was sure of it.

With a worried expression he looked down to their hands and then at Grace, but a little grin played around his mouth and he squeezed her hand.

The mayor glanced back and forth between them and then gave them a knowing look, which they both returned sheepishly.

"All is forgiven."

Before they could continue with their conversation, someone tapped Elijah on his shoulder. It was his older brother, Finn. The Original seemed to know what Finn wanted and quickly excused himself.

Grace immediately had the feeling of freezing when he left her side. Was she really turning into one of those girls that couldn't be without her man? No, probably not, but still the paranoia that he could disappear any time haunted her.

Elijah's voice sounded through the hall and Grace was ripped out of her thoughts.

"Ah, if everyone could gather please."

He stood on the stairs that led to the upper floor and addressed the guests. As always he spoke so confidently, she enjoyed his way with words. He sounded so intelligent and educated.

His siblings were behind him, all holding champagne glasses in their hands and watched the crowd shifting closer to them. Grace lost Carol out of her eyesight and she stood between some locals she didn't like, so she just looked up to Elijah, listening to him as a small, foolish smile plastered around her lips.

"Welcome. Thank you for joining us."

Esther came down the stairs and he turned his head to look at her, while he continued speaking.

"...whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries old waltz..."

Elijah's eyes found Grace in the crowd and his gaze didn't leave her. She blushed as the mumbling of the people around her who noticed rose again.

"...so if everyone could find yourself a partner and join us in the ballroom."

After he finished speaking, he rushed down the stairs and came to a halt in front of Grace. A boyish smile was on him and it nearly took Grace's breath away. He held his hand out for her.

"Do I have the honor?"

Immediately, she didn't feel nervous because of all the staring gazes anymore. To tease him, she shortly looked around as if she was looking for someone else to dance with.

"Yes, you do."

Chuckling, she took his hand and Elijah nudged her playfully. He led her into the ballroom and they took position. At first, men and women stood on the opposite sides. Elijah stood in between Kol and Matt, but his smile kept her from looking around much. What she just wondered about was that Klaus' partner seemed to be Caroline. She remembered that Klaus healed her after Tyler bit her, but how come that they knew each other above that?

The music kicked in and they all started to walk towards each other. Grace was so grateful at this moment that her mother had taught her and Elena a lot of those old dances. She would never be the best dancer, but finally Miranda Gilbert's education of 'proper young women' was useful.

A lot of people were standing at the edge and watched the dance, but Elijah's eyes on her gave her confidence. He always looked at her like she was the most beautiful person on the planet.

Like the other women, Grace curtsied and all the men bowed afterwards. Then, Elijah took her hands and led her for the first choreography part, before the tune of the music changed and he pulled her into the classical position. One of her hands lay in his, while her other touched his shoulder.

When Elijah placed his hand on the correct place on her back, he felt nothing but bare skin under his fingertips. A growl nearly escaped his lips, but he could hold it back thankfully. This woman was driving him crazy. Was she really so keen on making this evening hard for him? For his own little revenge, he let his fingers stroke her exposed skin while they danced. Goosebumps rose on her skin and a shiver went down her spine.

"You have no idea how much I want to touch you."

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. Over his shoulder she watched the other dancings pairs, including Damon and her sister. It distracted her a little so she wouldn't do stupid things like jumping on his hips or kiss him or ripping his shirt apart in front of all these people.

"But you are touching me right now."

Oh, he was. His fingers were still slightly moving. How could he do this while still dancing like a professional? She had to struggle to keep her feet in unison with his.

"Not just touch you. I want to kiss you. For everyone to see. I want to give you whatever you desire. I want to take you to every place you want to go. I want you to be mine, Grace."

Her breath hitched and her eyes widened slightly when she heard his words. They meant so much for her. Even tough it not accorded to the usually formal dance, he pulled her a bit closer. She opened her mouth, trying to find words, but before she could say anything, he twirled her and suddenly, she was in someone else's arms.

When she looked up, she saw it was Klaus. He grinned amused when he saw her face and Grace threw him a glare and he chuckled.

"Caroline Forbes, really?"

She tried to prevent one of his signature witty comments, but of course it wouldn't stop him.

"You look like you just watched porn."

He stated bluntly and Grace just rolled her eyes. Usually she would've been mad if someone spoke to her like this, but Klaus was the exception. She knew that he meant well.

"Maybe I did."

She sticked her tongue out, which made Klaus lean back his head and laugh.

"I see the reference to you just dancing with my brother, but I honestly don't want to deepen the topic."

"Well then, tell me about your crush on Caroline. It's damn obvious."

For the first time since she knew him, she saw Klas cheeks flushing a little. Wow, Caroline Forbes could do that to the unbeatable hybrid.

"If it's as obvious as you and Elijah trying to hide that you're head over heels for each other, I'm a guilty man."

He shot back.

"...but why are you so surprised? She's beautiful, stunning, just as you tonight if I may add, compassionate and honest."

Who would've thought that Niklaus Mikaelson could turn into a lovesick fool, too? It was probably a lost cause because Caroline wouldn't as easily drop her hostility towards him as Grace did, but she was happy that he at least tried.

"You really like her, do you? Then don't let anything stop you."

Klaus smile grew wider and he realized how thankful he should be to have Grace as his friend. He hoped he would never ruin this.

The dance ended and kissed her on the cheek before he left. When she looked up, she noticed the angered glares of Matt and Damon on her who seemed to see her short exchange with their enemy.

She didn't care and it was quickly pushed aside when Elijah hurried to her side. The people went out of the ballroom again and the couple slowly followed.

"You're the first person in centuries that has made him loosen up like this. Should I be concerned?"

Now Grace laughed. Why did people keep assuming that Klaus and her were a thing? Even Elijah. Putting aside this idiot move of Klaus in this dirty motel, it really never had been a topic. The friendship she had with him was one of the purest she ever had.

"No, I promise, this is a thing that will never ever happen. Concerning that we'll hopefully live forever, this means something. Seriously, we're good friends. It's kinda my agenda to get him out of this dark hole he's currently in. Show him that he doesn't need those hybrids to be happy. He already has a pretty good family if you ask me."

Her own words, the little side statement of 'hopefully we'll live forever' made her think. She only then realized that now, that she had Elijah at her side, she truly wanted to be immortal. In the beginning she was afraid and shocked by how long forever seemed, especially with the consequences of her human loved ones dying like flies in front of her. But it had changed. She knew that she could have a lovely future. Right now it felt so close.

Elijah looked at her with deep admiration. At this moment he was sure that he had found the one. She shared so many of his views and her ability to forgive Niklaus and actually care for him would always surprise him. With every second he spent with Grace, he fell more deeply for her.

"We have a similar goal."

He quickly checked if Grace's sister was around, before he cupped her cheek with his hand. Elijah wondered if he deserved this amazing person. She had yet to find out what lurked under his surface. He wanted nothing more than to keep it from her forever. No harm should come to her, even if he was the one that could cause her that.

Elijah then noticed Elena following Finn up the stairs and his agenda for the evening came back to his mind. He was so distracted by his love, he completely forgot his suspiciousness about his mother. Sighing, he kissed her cheek on the side, where his brother's lips hadn't touched her.

"Excuse me for a moment."

Grace's gaze followed him as he walked away from her. Her fingers touched the spot where he had kissed her. She needed to feel his lips on hers. It had been too long since the last time.

But another thought captured her. Elijah left so suddenly, he surely had something on his mind. She had to ask him later one what it was. Secret time between them was long over.

Grabbing another glass of champagne, she saw Rebekah standing next to Kol in the crowd and she decided to join them. She frowned when she heard them mumbling.

"What are you plotting?"

Rebekah quickly took a step back with a guilty expression, like she was a child caught stealing a chocolate bar.

"Just to make this boring party a bit more exciting."

Kol answered for his sister. Grace eyed him suspiciously. This one meant trouble, she was sure of it. Mischief was written all over him, the young vampire had to be careful with him.

"Don't tell me you're planning to murder one of your guests?"

Usually Grace was all in for causing some trouble, but today it was stupid. It was their mother's party, full with locals. Would be a dumb move to kill someone in the middle of this party.

"Oh, yes, we are. How was his name? Matt?"

Grace's eyes widened and then she shot a glare at both Rebekah and Kol. At least the blonde seemed to feel some remorse judging the way she was looking at her friend.

"Beks, please, don't be stupid. Matt's a good guy, he doesn't deserve that."

She ignored Kol who was starting to get angry. He moved closer to her and invade her private space to intimidate her, but Grace just stared into his brown eyes unimpressed.

"This is the second time you stand in my way. You're Elijah's girlfriend, aren't you?"

He glared down to her, but it only amused Grace. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm Grace, my pleasure."

She said sarcastically.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you immediately."

Rebekah was about to scold her brother from his disrespect towards her friend, but Grace patted her shoulder calmingly. She could speak for herself.

"Let's see...your brothers would rip you apart and would scatter your body parts in the world's oceans."

She said sweetly and left him standing. Smiling pleased with herself, she watched over the crowd to see if she could find Elijah. But before she needed to find herself another distraction, she saw him approaching her.

His face wasn't that soft as before. He seemed troubled, like a heavy thought was invading his mind. Grace felt the urge to make him smile again. She tilted her head and looked at him questioningly.

At first, he wanted to avoid the topic, but he could tell that Grace was seeing right through him. He couldn't hide anything from her and he didn't want to be dishonest to her.

"Come."

Elijah took her hand and pulled her back to the ballroom. No one was in here and the musicians were about to move into the main hall, but Elijah was quick to compel them to stay here and play another piece of music.

Grace eyed him with a confused frown, but when he suddenly pulled her close and they started to slowly dance again, she couldn't keep her smile away. It wasn't formal like before. Their bodies were so close, her chest was pressed into his. Her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I'm concerned about my mother. I...It's just...You know, I really want to believe that she just wants to reunite our family and that we finally come to some kind of peace and happiness. But I can't help but doubt it. Have I simply grown bitter and paranoid?"

He whispered and Grace now understood why he brought her here. There were many vampires in here, they could easily eavesdrop if they stayed in the main room.

Grace hesitated a bit, carefully choosing her words. She had thought about it for longer, but she hadn't wanted to trouble Elijah with it. He seemed so happy that his family was back together. Today should've been a starting point to a bright future.

"I'm not buying it, too. She tried to kill my sister so Klaus couldn't make hybrids anymore. Why should she change her mind that drastically in literally a week?"

She sighed. Grace saw all those worries coming back to his handsome face right in front of her.

"I don't know what to do about it."

He was showing so much trust in admitting this. Elijah was usually the strong, noble man who always had a plan. But with Grace he could allow himself to be weak. She was probably his greatest weakness.

"We'll figure something out. Tomorrow. Maybe we can ask Elena what she talked about with your mother. But the rest of the evening belongs to us, ok?"

Grace leaned her forehead against his and they both closed their eyes. So many unspoken emotions passed between them, but it was clear that they were each other's greatest comfort.

When they opened their eyes again, there wasn't any sexual tension rising as usual. It was calm. There was nothing but pure admiration and love. This was the right moment. In unison, their faces went even closer and their lips were inches apart. She could already feel his cool breath on her full lips.

All of a sudden, someone cleared her throat next to him.

Elijah and Grace pulled apart, both startled. It was Esther. She had a light, even loving smile on her face.

"Elijah, will you allow me to take your lovely young woman with me for a moment?"

Time to meet mommy dearest.


	31. Chapter 31

"Sure."

Grace answered before Elijah could reply anything. he didn't need to speak for her and Esther could simply address her directly and not through the man at her side.

She gave a Elijah a look that she was really ok and walked away with his mother, leaving Elijah alone in the ballroom.

The women went into the now dimly lit garden side by side. Esther had intervened their arms which made Grace oddly uncomfortable. Every instinct in Grace screamed that something was off about the mother.

"It's Grace, isn't it?"

Grace nodded and didn't know what to say afterwards. She always hated meeting the moms, but with Esther the disliking was especially intense, even if she wasn't even rude or something. At least Grace had to stay polite.

"Thanks for inviting me. It was an amazing evening so far."

She was tense when she said the words and scolded herself for failing so pathetically. Usually she could keep her emotions perfectly for herself, but since Elijah had weaseled his way into her hard, she had grown soft.

Esther chuckled and came to a halt, looking around the garden.

"My boys - and Rebekah of course, have no clue how good you're for them. You bring light into the darkness, Grace. That's why I'm very happy to welcome you to our family."

It should have flattered her, but it left only coldness. This woman had no clue of who she was. If she knew, she would know that she was anything but light. She couldn't help but shake her head slightly, to which Esther tilted her head in question.

"No offense, Mrs. Mikaelson, but you don't really know me. You have amazing children, I didn't have the chance to get to know Finn and Kol better yet, but still, they are the ones that carry light. They just have to find out. Good thing we're immortal, isn't it?"

The last sentences came out sharper as intended and Esthers smile faded as she looked to the ground, but shortly after she directed her gaze back at Grace.

"On the contrary. I was forced to see the atrocities my children committed from the other side. I know your story, I've seen what Niklaus and even Elijah have done to you. Still, you are their companion."

This conversation was getting way too intense for her. She spared a glance over her shoulder to see Elijah near the window front with a frown on his face.

"Well then you also have seen what I have become over the months. You're overestimating me. I'm just as much of a monster as every vampire inside this ballroom is. Besides, you claim to have forgiven Nik, so you should be the one to understand me."

Esther seemed surprised. Probably not every girl that dated one of her sons fired back like Grace did. But Grace was done with being polite. This woman was digging into very sensitive matters and she should be warned to let it go.

"Yes, but I'm their mother. I'm very sorry that you'll never be able to witness the undying love a mother has for her children. I would honestly wish that for you and Elijah. You're so similar, you two. I'm happy that he found you."

Again with these strange compliments.

"Elijah is the one that pulled me through these horrible times, you know. His relationship with his brother inspired me to forgive Nik."

She shook her head and knew that she needed to get away from her. Grace didn't want the evening to be completely ruined by the dark memories of the past few months.

"I should get back inside."

But Esther's hand grabbed Grace's wrist lightly. She was tempted to shrug it off, so she had to bite her lip hard to prevent herself from doing it.

"Grace...I'm sorry of what I did to your sister. I'm sorry for everything."

Her last words hung in the air and Grace was sure those were referring to more than just the things Klaus did to her.

Grace nodded and finally the woman let go of her. She stormed inside, trying to get herself back in check on the way in. But Elijah caught her too early, he must've noticed her troubled look.

"What did she say?"

She shook her head, trying to imply that she would tell him later one. Elijah's brows were still furrowed in worry and he stared down to her, trying to find out what the matter was. Fortunately Grace saw Elena close to them and she motioned towards her with her eyes to get Elijah's attention off her for now.

The two vampire walked up to Grace's sister and came to a halt next to her. Elena looked confused to see them together, but not suspicious. She was probably to wrapped up in her own drama to even notice that her sister was involved with her greatest enemies' brother.

"So, how was my mother."

Elijah's tone was friendly. Grace eyed her sister closely, she seemed tense and nervous. Her older sister knew her good enough to see that Elena was hiding something.

"Intense."

Elena really had nervous habits. Grace admired Elijah's patience with her, even if he had to tear every answer out of her. She herself was happy that she could play the observing part, as her patience with her sister was long gone.

"And for what reason did she need to talk to you in private?"

Elijah said while handing the young women glasses of champagne before taking one for himself. But Elena seemed distracted and Grace noticed that her gaze was directed towards Esther who was on the stairs.

"Elena. Should I be concerned about my mother's intentions?"

He asked after Elena didn't answer for some seconds.

"She just wanted to apologize for trying to have me killed."

Grace snorted and both Elijah and Elena looked at her, but she just shrugged and returned to her emotionless mask.

"So it's true then? She has forgiven Klaus?"

The sweet smile Elena flashed him made Grace want to vomit. Was she really trying to seduce him into believing her? She was about to lie, it was obvious. Both vampires heard her quickening heartbeat.

"Yes, it's true."

Thankfully Grace had her emotions in place when Elena lied Elijah straight in the face. When had she become such a smooth liar? Sometimes Grace asked herself if this was still her sister.

Elijah stared at her sister, trying to look for the true answer inside her eyes, but suddenly the voice of his mother sounded through the room.

"Good evening ladies and gentleman. I invite you all into raising a glass with me. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family united as one. I'd like to thank you all for this spectacular evening. Cheers!"

Everyone joined into the toast. The trio clinked their glasses together, Elijah and Grace exchanging a short meaningful glance, before they drank.

"I'll see you at home, Grace. Good night, Elijah."

Elena joined into the crowd of people that was about to leave the party. Just the Mikaelsons and Grace stayed behind. Klaus had a grim expression on his face when he parted ways with Caroline and Grace pulled up a brow. He answered her questioning glance with a shook of his head, but together with Rebekah he came closer to the couple. Grace nudged Klaus into his side to cheer him up a bit.

Meanwhile Elijah wrapped his arm around Grace's waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. She raised her glass again.

"To friendship. To family."

They all smiled at her words and emptied the last champagne of the evening. Before they could start to talk, they heard a loud thud from outside and then groans. They shared a glance before they stormed outside. Elena came into eyesight as she hurried before them.

Damon was just getting up from Kol, who laid on the cold ground, his neck broken. Stefan and Elena looked at Damon bewildered, while the Original family stood together intimidatingly. A dark smile appeared on Grace's face, as she was waiting if Damon was really stupid enough to pick up another fight. But he was obviously outmatched and backed up until he reached the woods that rounded up the estate.

With a desperate look on her face, Elena turned around and faced the whole gathered family. Her eyes fell on Grace that stood among them and the younger Gilbert noticed, who good she fitted into them. She swallowed harshly and was at a loss of words. Stefan took her arm and led her away from the scene.

When Grace shifted her attention away from her sister, she saw that Esther was already outside, shouting at Rebekah who already had spilled the beans that she was responsible for this. She looked so much like a child that was scolded by her mother. It was ironic how quickly they all snapped back into their traditional roles. Even Elijah; he stood between the women, trying to calm them both down.

She looked at Kol on the floor and sighed.

"Nik? Would you mind lending a hand?"

Grace tabbed her friend on the shoulder and he nodded. Together, they pulled his younger brother up and carried him to his bedroom. Sighing, Grace drove her fingers through her hair, messing it up a bit.

"Go to Beks, she looked like she needs a brotherly hug."

He smirked.

"Thanks, Gracie."

Sometimes she reminded Klaus so much of Elijah, it was scary. She selflessly took care of the situation, even tough she had nothing to do with it. Klaus was thankful to have her in his finally reunited family.

Grace flashed him a smile and walked through the dimly lit corridor, trying to find Elijah. She realized that it would destroy them all if Elijah and her were true about their mother. Even Klaus, he needed his mother. They all lost their parents way too early. Just like Grace.

She followed Esthers raised voice upwards and leaned against a wall close to the room the witch and her son had gone into. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she heard the oldest brother, Finn approaching. He came to a halt next to her, his stoic expression directed towards her. The Original looked like he wanted to say something, but the corners of his lips just raised a little, which actually looked like half a smile.

He was another riddle Grace wasn't sure about. Finn never showed any emotion. His face was always blank, always calm, maybe a tad bit sad looking. But who would wonder, he was in a box for 900 years. Still, the obvious mommy's boy alerted her in a way. The problem was that Grace had yet to find out how her instincts and judgment would serve her.

Shortly after Finn disappeared, Elijah stepped out of the room. He didn't notice her immediately, he covered his face with his hand and sighed.

"Hey."

Grace whispered and stood on her tip toes to wrap her arms around him. Elijah seemed a little surprised, but still returned the hug. Still, he was keen on getting distance between them and Esther.

"I thought you went home with your sister."

She shook her head and intervened their arms as they slowly went down the stairs into the now empty hall.

"I wouldn't go with a proper goodbye. And there was still a neck broken brother of yours that needed to be taken care of."

Elijah stopped and took her face in his hands. His love was so lovely, so gorgeous, he couldn't believe it. So compassionate that she took care of the things he was actually responsible for.

"You look like you could need a break off family business. Know what? We had champagne and caviar for this evening, let's have a night in my world."

Smiling widely, she took his hands and pulled him with her. Elijah opened his mouth to find an excuse, but before the words could find a way out, a delicate finger was placed on his lips. There was a sparkle in her eyes that he couldn't resist and without further complains, he went with her.

It was the first time in years that he realized that he had his own life. That he didn't have to be there for his family all the time and reject his own happiness. Grace showed him that his immortality, his future could be bright.

The walk to the goal Grace targeted wasn't long. When Elijah saw the stingingly light sign over the small restaurant, he chuckled. She honestly brought him to a pizza diner that was open 24/7.

A little bell rang as he held the door open for her. She waltzed inside and suddenly the eyes of the few guests inside were on her. Most of them were pimply teenagers and one or two people that were having date night.

In their formal way of style, they of course stung out. The owner, a tiny Italian guy seemed like his eyes were going to burst out of his skull when he saw the lady in the amazing green dress and her man in an elegant tuxedo, but he recognized Grace and a smile came to his face.

Mumbling was again being heard, the whole town knew about the Mikaelson ball, every one who wasn't invited was envious, but no one had expected that one of the hosts would walk into a pizza shack together with a Gilbert girl. Grace could already see the small town scandal right in front of her.

She grinned ear to ear and Elijah couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. They sat down onto the comfortable old stools and the owner immediately came up to them and handed them a menu, but Grace waved her hand, implying that she already knew what she would order for them.

"Hey Antonio. Two beers and one large Chicken Supreme, cheesy crust."

He noted down their order and disappeared behind the counter.

"Loyal customer?"

Elijah asked with an amused smile plastered on his face. He seemed to relax more with every second he spent with her. It was a good idea to get him away from all the stress his family caused.

"Kind of. But usually more the delivery service type. You'll see, the food is amazing."

He loosed his bow tie and put it into his jacket pocket. Grace leaned back and inspected him. This feeling of being out of place was a good one in this kind. He should try evenings like this more often.

"I expected a finer wine or our first date."

They chuckled. Antonio placed the pitchers of beer in front of them and Grace took a deep gulp. She was surprised when she noticed that Elijah didn't seemed like he loathed a good beer.

"This technically isn't our first date. I think we're far beyond that."

Elijah reached over the small table and took her hand in his. He wanted to ask her about his mother, but when he gave it a second thought, he refused to make this night tense again.

"True. Still, thanks for taking me here."

They clinked their huge glasses and simply talked about non-heavy matters. For this moment, they were a happy, freshly in love couple that was getting to know each others. While they shared the pizza, they laughed and learned the simplest things, like food and drink favorites, books they loved and so much else. Grace snatched the last piece of stuffed crust from his hand and she giggled happily as she ate it.

"You're a little bit of a thief, aren't you?"

Again he reached forward and wiped crumbs from her full lips. He wanted to kiss them so badly.

They were the last customers of the restaurant and when they were finished, Elijah put a 100-dollar bill on the table as he was in a good mood. He was thankful that this place existed, it broke the last ice between them.

When they went outside and the cool night air touched her skin, she noticed Elijah tensing up again. She looked up to him and saw a certain sadness in his eyes. He was sad that this evening was over.

Grace shook her head.

"You know what? You don't need to go home. Come on, the night is not over yet. You can sleep at my place."

She felt a little bold here and she knew that it was probably way too early. But they were vampires, they had lost 3 months together, so why should they stick to the rules?

"Grace, I..."

The young vampire grabbed his hands and squeezed them. Her excitement was contagious.

"No. Don't go all noble-man over me. We spent three months apart and I don't want to hand you over back to the family drama just yet. Please."

Elijah hesitated and stared at her for a moment. He asked himself if this was the right thing to do, because he didn't want to rush things. But she was right, he didn't want it to end, too.

They walked up to her home in comfortable silence. Grace enjoyed the last moments of having this dashing dress touching her skin. The ball was over, but she would think back to it often. That was the thing Esther was right with, it had been a magical evening.

When they arrived on the porch, they stopped and faced each other. The air around them was full of tension. It felt enchanted and for the second time today it was the right moment. Only that know no one could bother them, they were all on their own.

They were so close and she wished nothing more than to finally feel his lips on hers. His hand cupped her cheek and stroke a strand of loose hair behind her ear. He took his time to look for permission in her eyes and lean down to her. Even with her heels on, he was quite a bit taller than her.

It was like the world stood still for a moment. Grace placed her hands on his shoulders, trying to keep herself steady, but Elijah's kiss took her off the ground anyways. Over the months she had tried to remember their first kiss intensely, but the barrier of her human vision clouded it. Now this was definitely memorable. It felt so intense and right.

The kiss wasn't rushed, it was slow, loving, just like they both had imaged it to be. It wasn't a fight for dominance, not yet, this was the unison of two people that had eagerly waited to finally have their chance.

His strong arms held her all the while the touch of their lips lasted. She felt so safe and protected.

After some time, they intervened their fingers and quietly went inside the house and up the stairs. Thankfully Elena seemed to be asleep already. When Grace closed her bedroom door behind her, she pulled Elijah close again, still hungry for his lips. Her fingers finally could stroke through his amazingly soft hair. This time they were a little more out of breath when they pulled apart.

When they undressed for bed, it got a little awkward, but in a very sweet way. Elijah unbuttoned his dress shirt and revealed bare, flawless skin. He wasn't overly muscular, but he had strong lines in just the right places to make Grace's throat go dry. She couldn't wait to let her hands and mouth wander. But not tonight. Tonight they would simply sleep in each other's arms.

Grace was so confused by Elijah's perfect body that she also started undressing right in front of him. The zipper at the side of her dress of course got stuck. Like the gentleman he always was, Elijah noticed her situation and knelt beside her and quickly unzipped the dress.

She was about to simply let it fall to the ground when she remembered that she wore no bra under the dress. Grace flushed a deep red, to which Elijah chuckled, but politely turned around. Hurrying to her dresser, she got her pyjama out of it and rushed into the bathroom to change and remove her make up.

Fortunately the awkward atmosphere was gone by the time Grace arrived back in the bedroom. Elijah was already under her blankets, propped up on his elbow and smiling at her. She melted by the sight. Never would she have dreamt of this.

Grace wasted no time and snuggled into his chest. His skin was warm, the rhythm of his breath was comforting. They both knew and felt that they could've went further and consume each other to their fullest, but at least in this case they wanted to give themselves a bit more time. Even if it was just days, tasting the thrill of waiting would be exciting.

"Good night, Grace."

He stole another faint kiss from her full lips, before he shut off the light on the bedside table and sunk down into her soft pillows, lazily stroking her hair.

"Good night, Elijah."

She smiled to herself and already knew that this would be the most peaceful night she ever had.


	32. Chapter 32

When Grace woke up, she at first didn't know where she was. Seconds, hours or days could have passed since she fell asleep, she had no clue. In months this was the first night where she wasn't tormented by any nightmares. She slept nearly dreamless. Grace felt pleasurable warm and protected, she wasn't afraid anymore. Nothing haunted her right now.

"Elijah?"

The young woman was confused and she opened her eyes, only to see that her cheek was connected with warm skin, her legs intervened with strong male ones. She felt fingers comb through her messy hair and she then fully remembered how the last evening had ended.

"Good morning."

His voice was the usual deep baritone, but it had a warmth in it, that send a shiver down Grace's spine. She was relieved to have him by her side. It was like she needed him. He made her calm, he would always protect her, she was sure of it.

Still a bit puzzled, Grace lifted up her head only to meet his dark eyes. They were chocolate again. She had noticed that they turned darker, nearly black when he was upset or angry. But he seemed to feel completely at ease.

Elijah had never felt more comfortable than here, in her bed, by Grace's side. The thoughts of his mother strange behavior mixed with the fascination of watching his love sleep kept him awake for most of the night. But he was used to sleepless nights and this one belonged to the more relaxing ones. He had felt tempted to have a peek into her dreams, but he kept himself from it. Not without her permission.

Judging from the look on her face, this night had been special for her too. There was something wild in her eyes that took his breath away. For the whole night he had studied her face precisely, but now that her eyes were open and only directed at him, he still discovered new beauty in her expression and he again asked himself how he deserved this woman.

It surprised him a bit when she suddenly pulled his head closer to kiss his lips passionately. Yesterday their shared kissed were slow, sweet and promising, but in this moment she kissed him like she was starving for it. Like she was relieved that he was still here at her side. It troubled Elijah that she had to experience so much that a certain kind of paranoia developed in her and she also seemed to have a lot of sleepless nights.

But he couldn't help but feel aroused by her sudden passionate attack. To be honest, everything about her lit his lust. When they were in that diner and he watched her unfolding her true vampire nature, he had nearly lost himself.

Her leg shifted and wrapped around his hip so she could be closer to him. Elijah instinctively placed a hand on the back of her thigh. They already wore very little clothing, so their skin touched all over their bodies. Heat connected and it felt like their was a fire burning between them that couldn't be put out.

Elijah needed to stop this. It wasn't right to go farer now. Grace was too upset now that she could decide rationally, so it had to be him that would keep her from doing this in the wrong state of mind. They both wouldn't enjoy it as they should with the leftover thoughts and trouble from last night.

But his own usually so well kept restraint was on the edge. He felt his hands moving towards her chest, their kiss had went sloppy and he felt the urge to kiss her neck. His groin was pressed against her and Grace seemed eager to continue. She needed his touch, she wanted to feel his hands and lips everywhere as they promised the relief she so urgently needed.

Even the noble Elijah was only a man. Mornings had their certain intensity that made it even harder. But bringing up all his inner strength, he ripped away from her. He sat upright and stared down to her. She looked disheveled, with eyes that threatened to make his brain shut off completely.

"I...I'm sorry."

Suddenly, she flushed a deep red and this tension that nearly consumed them both was over for the moment. Elijah took a deep breath, but smiled. He grabbed her waist and pulled her on his lap. His fingers pulled her shirt back down, as he still couldn't completely give up on touching her. She must've misinterpreted his action and feel embarrassed.

"No, don't be. It's very had not to give in and...fully claim you as mine, but as yesterday's events I want it to be in the right moment. You deserve nothing less."

He kissed her once more, stood up and sat her back into the bed before he walked into the bathroom. Grace could hear him turning on the shower. It gave both of them some time to recover, even if the fact that Elijah was showering literally right next to her didn't make it any better for Grace. She imagined how the hot water pooled down his flawless skin and she wished nothing more than to join him.

But he was right. The vampire-horniness that intensified with every second she spent with him was clouding her mind. Sighing, she laid back into her bed and waited until he finished. She hurried to switch places with him, so she wouldn't be tempted by him just being wrapped in a towel.

Elijah raised an eyebrow amused when he noticed her hurry to get into the bathroom. She lightly shook his head in disbelief how sweet this girl could be, always trying so hard to do right.

In this moment it felt so normal, almost human. Elijah couldn't really remember how it felt like to be human, but Grace gave a part of this feeling back to him. His dead heart beat stronger than ever and he knew he had found a new reason to live, despite the fact that he vowed to protect his family. Maybe he could have it both. A family that wasn't in urgent danger all the time and a life with Grace on his own. It came in handy that Grace was the first woman Niklaus accepted at his brother's side.

Lost in thought, Elijah pulled up his pants. He hadn't got anything to change, as the decision to spend his night in Grace's home was very spontaneous, so he needed to go home soon so he could get into one of his every day suits. Just as he closed the zipper of his pants, the door flew open to reveal an exhausted looking Elena.

"Grace I need to talk to you!"

She was so wrapped in her own mind that she didn't even notice that it was Elijah standing in the middle of the room. When her eyes fell onto the Original vampire, her gaze grew confused at first and then realization hit her. Elena's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open. She stuttered, but couldn't bring out any words.

"Good morning, Elena."

He did well in hiding his own surprise. The situation was tensed and awkward, but it was only a matter of time until Grace's family would find out anyway. At the edge of his mind he felt relief, because he couldn't bear hide his feelings for Grace in public any longer.

Elijah looked at the doppelgänger while he put on his shirt and buttoned it. Elena didn't even noticed that she was still staring at him, she was still frozen in shock. To add to the already embarrassing situation, Grace waltzed in through the bathroom door just in her bathrobe and a towel in her hair.

"Maybe we should eat breakfast out, because...Oh."

Grace stopped mid sentence when she saw her sister standing in the doorframe. She spared a short look at Elijah who was still busy dressing, but then she had her facial expression back in check.

"Well, the cat is out of the bag."

She shrugged, Elena now gaping at her.

"...What can I do for you, sister?"

Casually, she leaned against the wall with a raised eyebrow. Elijah and her played this in unison and worked perfectly. Actually this really was perfectly normal. Grace could choose whoever she wanted to spent her time with, Elena couldn't forbid her her happiness. Especially her should be the last one to judge. But of course the only one who couldn't accept this was the doppelgänger.

"What is this?"

She said through gritted teeth. There were tons of emotions weighing down on the brunette. Her sister was dating the enemy. How could she! Elena wanted to tell Grace about what Esther told her yesterday but now that Elijah stood here, in the middle of the room, she couldn't. He had obviously spend the night here, doing god knows what with her sister. Her anger reached a whole new shade and Elena could feel the ice between the sister growing even wider.

"Are you really that surprised?"

Grace walked over to Elijah and took his hand in hers. He looked down to her worriedly, but she only rolled her eyes.

Elena had had no clue about what was going on. She had wondered why she sided with the Mikaelsons all the time but never would she have expected go that far. Elijah had betrayed her too in the night of the ritual, so Elena had thought that everything that could've developed between them was over.

"Yes, Grace, I am! But it makes things clearer."

She was deeply disappointed. The sight of Grace holding hands with him made her sick. Even tough Elena knew that Elijah had a degree of honor in him, he was still their enemy. He would always stay by Klaus' side. How could Grace not see it?

When she saw Elena's judging look, anger rose heavily inside Grace. Her upper lip curled and she remembered that she hadn't had her bloodbag-breakfast yet.

"At least I'm not playing with two brothers. That's actually something to be judgy about. But I'm not because I think that you're old enough to simply do your business. So do the same with me. Let me choose who I want to be with. And if you can't accept that, do not wonder if I choose other people over you."

She squeezed his hand. Those words were hard for her to say, but it was Grace's last warning towards her sister.

Elena shook her head and went back downstairs. Grace sighed, at this moment she was still oblivious to what her sister would open up about later one.

"I should go."

Elijah stated, now fully dressed. Shaking her head, she collected some of her clothes to dress for the day.

"No, stay a while. Now that we finally can stop all this secrecy, I want Elena to accept us. She has to. So we'll act like the usual couple, we're going down and drink a coffee."

They both smiled when Grace spoke the word 'couple'. It still felt a little strange to say it, but it warmed her heart. Telling Elena was the last piece of the puzzle. It was kind of official now and that's exactly what Grace wanted. She was done hiding. So was Elijah. He didn't care about an official name for what they had, but he wanted that everyone knew that she was his. Elijah wanted to be with her, protect her, not caring about who was watching.

"...You know, she's a good person. I mean, she always was a bit different from Jeremy and I. But sometimes she's so hypocritical, I can't take it. And since I'm a vampire, I can't recognize her. Have I become such a horrible person?"

Frowning, Elijah cupped her cheeks with his hands and looked into her eyes intensely.

"Grace, never say that again. You aren't. I never before met someone who is as compassionate as you. There is so much good in you, words can't describe it. Please, you have to believe that yourself. You're better than us all."

He leaned his forehead onto hers. Grace couldn't really believe what he said, but still she nodded. She saw herself as particularly crazy. In the time she spent with Klaus, she discovered her own very dark side and sometimes even the hybrid himself was surprised by her pretty lunatic ways. But before he could see her doubt, Grace went into the bathroom again to put some clothes on.

After she appeared again fully dressed, her hair still wet, they walked into the kitchen with their hands interlaced. Elena sat on a stool at the kitchen table and rolled her eyes when she saw them.

Grace motioned for Elijah to take a seat while she fixed them both a cup of coffee. It was her house, too, so she could take anyone here she liked to. It seemed like Elena sometimes forgot that Grace was still a member of this family.

They sat in awkward silence, the sister's ignoring each other completely. Elijah finished his cup first and stood up.

"I apologize myself, but I will leave for now."

He stated and together with Grace, they walked to the door. She wrapped her arms around his neck, not really ready to let him go yet, but they dragged this wonderful night long enough, Elijah needed to watch over his family again.

"I'll come along later. Call me if you need help."

They both knew that she meant the Esther problem with that. At first, she would have a talk with her sister about last night's lies.

Elijah nodded and he pulled her close to share another kiss. But of course they couldn't spend that last moment in peace. Elena stood behind them, her arms crossed in front of her chest and she cleared her throat.

Sighing, they pulled apart and Grace shot Elena a glare. Before he disappeared, Elijah touched her face once more.

"We need to talk."

Elena said, giving Grace a serious look.

"So talk."

The older Gilbert lifted a brow and tapped her foot impatiently. A little smile was plastered on her face, as she thought about those amazing last hours and to provoke Elena a little bit further.

"No, Damon and Stefan need to hear it, too. Please, come with me to their home."

Grace looked at her suspiciously, but shrugged and tagged along with her. They walked again in this awkward silence and the sisters couldn't be more different: Elena was in a bad mood, her lips pressed into a thin line, whereas Grace felt the butterflies in her stomach, the smile never fading from her face.

It turned into a grin when they reached the house and suddenly the door was opened right in front of them. Damon only wore a towel around his narrow hips, a smug grin plastered on his face. But the surprising fact was that Rebekah stood next to him, still in her dark green ball gown, looking quite disheveled. She smiled sweetly with cruelty hidden behind her angelic features when she saw Elena.

"Hi Beks."

Grace couldn't help but chuckle. The irony in this was so fitting and it meant a little sweet revenge on Elena.

"See you later, Gracie."

The blonde and the brunette kissed each other on the cheek before Rebekah waltzed out of the Salvatore Boarding House.

"You two are out of your minds."

Elena seemed even angrier than before when she entered the house. Damon and Grace shared a look, a rare item of unity between them.

"Wait, what has your evil sister done?"

Grace rolled her eyes, but maybe the term was pretty fitting.

"She found out that Elijah and I are, you know, pretty close."

She winked at the other vampire and Damon laughed.

"Seems like nearly all the Originals got laid tonight."

Grace hid her smile with a cough and nudged Damon. Elena looked at them exhausted and sighted. Those two united were too much to handle for her.

"I came here to tell you about what Esther wanted."

Suddenly, Grace attention was on her sister. This was of her particular interest. Seems like she didn't even have to force her to spill the beans.

Elena's gaze fell on her sister and there was a new expression on the doppelgänger's face. There was guilt and she was torn if she should tell her this directly. For Elena Grace was a dangerous emotional wreck. Of course she loved her sister, but she couldn't really trust her anymore.

"Grace um, I don't know how to tell you this. But Esther...she wants to kill her children. Not just Klaus, all of them."

Grace wasn't able to tell if it felt like the world stood still or crashed all at once around her in this moment. Her eyes were wide open, but she was void of emotion as the information sunk in.

"What?"

She whispered.

"Good, I'll do anything to get rid of Klaus. Can't tell that I'll cry seeing the others go, too."

Damon didn't gave Elena's sister any attention as he filled himself a glass of Bourbon. But he should have. Grace's emotions overwhelmed her all at once. Hatred and anger were the most prominent ones. Of course she had assumed that Esther's intentions weren't pure. But hearing it from her sister's mouth was still shocking her.

"You lied in Elijah's face. Why didn't you tell us?"

Grace walked towards her sister, her face dark, black veins appearing under her eyes. With a frightened expression, Elena stepped backwards until her back reached a wall. The young vampire was so close in front of her and stared her down. Elena feared for her life, even if she always would've thought that Grace would never hurt her. Now she wasn't so sure.

"Tell me!"

She yelled and Elena flinched heavily. Grace's hands curled into fists to prevent herself from chocking her sister. The monster inside her, the beast, the savage creature took over her. At that moment she was afraid of herself, but even the thought of Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah dead pushed away any feeling of sanity. Without them, knowing that they would never come back, she would get insane. She needed them, they were starting to be her second family.

"Because I was the one that helped binding them together."

Elena said it with confidence, not like she was proud of it, but she did it thinking that it was he best. She looked her sister in the eyes while speaking the words.

Grace would never hurt her sister. But in this moment she was close to do it. Elena knew that she cared about the Mikaelson's and that she was on the best way to forge a peace, but still Elena was ready to sign the death sentences of Grace's loved ones. Damon and Elena seemed to expect of her that she was ready to hurt her own flesh and blood, because Elena looked like she sent her last prayer to heaven. Damon shot forward and before Grace could open her mouth, he had snapped her neck and her slim, suddenly so vulnerable figure fell to the hard ground. Moments ago she was a strong vampire, people fearing her and now she was nothing. No one caught her, no one fought for her. The people that would didn't even know what was happening to her.

At this very moment Grace knew that she had lost one part of her family.


	33. Chapter 33

Of course his siblings wouldn't believe Elijah. They didn't want to hear any of his suspiciousness towards their mother. Maybe it was was wishful thinking, maybe they shut their eyes from any strangeness Esther spilled. Elijah even mused that they accused him, the one that devoted his whole life to keeping this family stable, that he wanted to rip their happiness apart. But surely that wasn't Elijah's intention. It was a part of his mission to keep them all safe, even if he so miserably failed throughout the years. Especially now that Grace joined them. She was an even easier target as she was much easier to kill.

Elijah' thoughts wandered off to all their acquaintances that sticked with them for some time. Tatia, Tristian, Lucien, Aurora, Celeste, Marcel...most of them died, the rest had suffered immensely. Nothing of that he wanted for Grace. Was she the one he could protect? He wanted nothing more.

Adding to that, she was the only one who believed him. He remembered that she wanted to talk to her sister about last night. But would Elena tell her anything now that she found out that Grace was more deeply involved with the Mikaelsons than she would've assumed? Probably not.

Usually, Elijah wouldn't have worried that he hadn't heard of her for some hours now. But there was a feeling inside him, a tight grasp around his heart actually, that told him that something was wrong. It always surprised him how deep the bond with Grace ran. Elijah didn't believe in a higher force anymore, his existence was the best evidence, but Grace was closest to a gift from heaven as it could be. It felt like they were meant to be, even if it probably wasn't the best option for the lovely girl. She could have been happy if she wouldn't have found out about this. If she just stayed in New York. Still, it was to late for that and Elijah's usually strong self control, his ability to ban his emotions from coming to surface, shut off whenever she was close. He couldn't fight it, he couldn't push her away and he slowly accepted the fact that Grace wanted to be with him, too. She had found an unique way into his heart.

He decided to check on her and proof a theory. If she won't talk to Grace, Elijah himself would make her. He knew that Grace wouldn't like his ways, but she hopefully would understand. Elijah could try for as long as he wanted, she eventually would see his dark side anyway.

Some minutes later, he stood outside the Gilbert house and knocked. His hands were buried in his pockets, his posture tensed. He was sure something was wrong. When Elena opened the door, that worry deepened. Elijah couldn't hear her. The steady pattern of her undead heartbeat was usually music to his ears, but right now he couldn't make it out anywhere.

"Elena."

He forced a smile onto his face. At least he could still behave like the gentleman he raised himself to be in front of other people.

"Elijah."

Elena seemed confused, but wasn't unfriendly like earlier. She was nervous when she saw the Original, her blood pumped through her body fast.

"Where is your sister?"

He tilted his head slightly and tried to see through Elena. Her reaction nearly made this cold feeling inside him take over. On the doppelgänger's face was again a hint of guilt, but she was obviously hiding it. Something was wrong and he honestly hoped for Elena's and the Salvatore's lives that she was well on just on a shopping trip. Elijah didn't know what he would do if he would find out that she was hurt.

"She um, went out an hour ago. Don't know where she went."

The Original nodded and felt tempted to simply vanish and look for Grace, making sure she was ok. But he had no clue where to look and it would waste too much time.

"Maybe she can join us later. I wanted to ask you if you would accompany me. I want to show you something."

Hesitantly, Elena nodded. Of course she knew that this was dangerous. It's like walking into the lion's den, but it would make Elijah more suspicious if she would refuse him. He could enter the house on his will after all because of Grace. There was no place where Elena would be safe.

After a silent, awkward ride, Elena couldn't get the picture of her sister and the Original vampire out of her head, Elijah stopped his car in the middle of the woods. Uncomfortably, the doppelgänger shifted and got out of the vehicle. They were in the middle of nowhere, no one would hear her in case of an emergency.

Elijah explained to her how this landscape looked like a thousand years ago. Now it was all covered by a wood. Trees covered the ground where the hut they lived in stood. Life wasn't easy in those times but they were all happy to some degree. They were a normal family that faced human problems of love, living and survival.

He wished Grace was here to hear the story. She was a historian in her heart, of course she would love to hear stories of the viking era from a witness of those times. He could tell her in detail about all the epochs he lived through, but Grace seemed to hesitant to ask him. When they finally got a moment of peace, he would share some stories with her. Sometimes he missed that working environment they had in the beginning. Maybe he could help her writing some of her extraordinary work when she kept on with her studies. He could imagine that she would refuse at first, but together they could create something incredible. Elijah wanted her light to shine in every aspect.

When he finished his description he squatted near a some stones and picked off some dried leaved and slowly ripped them apart. It looked like he was just deep in thought, but actually he was closely listening if the old caves he played in when he was a boy still existed. A faint airstream could be heard from under his feet and this was enough evidence.

"I should go home..."

Elena interrupted the silence but Elijah ignore it completely.

"I admire you and your sister, Elena. You two remember me of qualities I carried a long time ago. Still, yesterday, you differed completely from Grace. She never lied to me. But last night, you did."

The doppelgänger's eyes were wide open and she started to shake when Elijah stepped towards her. He had no clue that it was quite a deja vu for Elena, referring to how Grace attacked her this morning.

"It's not true. All your mother told me is that she wanted a new start."

She stuttered and Elijah sighed, staring her down.

"I can hear your heartbeat, Elena. It jumps when you're dishonest. You lied to me at the ball, you're lying to me now. Tell me the truth."

His voice was low and cold.

"I never wanted this to happen..."

Elijah usually had an incomparable patience, but in this situation even he was getting impatient with the girl.

"What, Elena?"

She was getting desperate now, she couldn't hold it back anymore. It would interfere with her plan, but she also realized that her sister was vervained in a cold cellar because of this and the guilt again consumed her. Elena couldn't look the Original in the eyes.

"When she asked to see me, I thought that maybe she could help, that she would find a way to kill Klaus...it...it's not just Klaus she wants to kill."

Silence erupted and Elijah continued to stare at Elena while he processed her words. He wasn't even surprised, but it still felt like a knife stabbed into his heart.

"She wants to kill us all, doesn't she? Undo the evil she created."

His facial expression slid out of control for a second and his upper lip curled upwards. He looked away, anger taking him over. Elijah worked hard to keep his family alive and together, sometime he failed, sometimes he succeeded. Now, on the peak of their reunion, their own mother loathed them so much that she wanted to kill them.

"Tell me where Grace is."

He was done with playing games and be subtle. Elijah needed to know she was safe. She probably would insist on helping him and getting herself in danger, but right now he just knew that she was in danger and that he had no idea where she could be.

Elena stepped back, seeing a completely new kind of rage in Elijah's face. He didn't show it as heavily as Grace did, but his seemingly calm expression scared the doppelgänger even more. She wanted to lie, but she knew that Elijah saw right through her.

"I...I don't know. Damon got her somewhere, he didn't tell me where..."

His hands clenched into fists. Never would he have thought that the sweet, innocent Elena could betray her own sister that way. Of course he believed Grace's words concerning Elena, but he had hoped that he could help built their relation into better terms again. Now he understood why this was out of option for the older Gilbert.

"You allowed your own sister to be taken as leverage?"

Elena shook her head.

"It's not like that...she..."

With one swift movement of his hand he interrupted her.

"What kind of atrocity could she have committed to make you hand her over just like that? No, Elena, she found about...this...and she acted differently from what you expected. Because she loves my family more than you have thought. You were afraid that she would tell us and of course Klaus and I at least would believe her."

Elijah said through gritted teeth. He was not just angry, he was deeply disappointed in Elena Gilbert. Just some hours ago he had believed that the families could come to some kind of piece, but now it was all ruined.

"Elijah, I wish I could help, I know it was wrong, but I don't know where she is."

Elena's face was troubled, she actually seemed to see that she made a mistake. But it was too late to feel remorse. Grace was probably felt torture wherever she was. The girl needed to see that her action could have a gruesome aftermath. This was her sister after all, not a puppet.

"One thing I learnt in my time on this earth...be careful what you wish for.

He spoke with a cold voice and suddenly he stomped on the ground with force and the ground under him shook and broke into pieces to reveal the cave under them. Elijah grabbed Elena and jumped down into the hole with her. He left the doppelgänger there and started his mission to find Grace and stop his mother.

At this moment, he didn't care anymore who he would kill and hurt on his way. He didn't even care if Grace would hate him for threatening her sister. At least she would hate him and be alive.

Grace woke up with a groan. Every cell in her body hurt heavily. Her veins felt like sand paper rubbing together. She was so hungry. The need for blood was numbing out every other pain.

So this was what vervain felt like. She woke up before and felt a syringe stung into her neck and an endless burning pain inserted into her bloodstream. When it reached her heart it was the worst.

It wasn't out of her system yet. Grace couldn't move properly and she felt so weak. On the side she noted that she should start building up an immunity like the Salvatores did.

The Salvatores...pictures came rushing to her mind. She remembered what happened and immediately knew that it were Damon and Stefan who brought her here and locked her up. Anger flooded her but she was to weak to even let it out.

Elena. Elena allowed this to happen. Usually Grace, as the only vampire and the oldest sibling, was responsible for her and Jeremy's safety but today, just this once, she could've needed her protection and she simply let her get taken away by her boyfriends. Of course, Grace was the best leverage they could get. Elijah, Klaus and even Rebekah cared deeply for her. But she was also Elena's family after all. Never would she have thought that they would go that far.

Then, she remembered why she came into this situation after all. Elena told her that Esther wanted to kill all of her children. Including her best friend and the man she adored so much.

How much could a mother hate her children to even plot this? Of course they have all done things that were indescribably dreadful and reckless, they were the villains to most people, but not for Grace. There was good in all of them. Grace knew it, she had seen behind the facades.

The Originals were a thousand years old and they had experienced worse things than every one else. No one could understand it. Not even their own mother.

Grace needed to get out of here. She needed to tell him, even if they didn't want to. Elijah would believe her. He always did.

Her senses were a bit dimmed when she got up and tried to see better in the dark. It definitely wasn't the Salvatore cellar, this was completely different. But where was she? Grace reached the wooden door and of course it wouldn't open. She tried her best but in her weakened state, there wasn't much she could do.

Elijah looked the Salvatore brothers in the eyes and smiled coldly when they entered their house. He had his perfectly contained mask back on. The Original was reckless and he wouldn't allow another waste of time.

"Gentleman, I have two exercises for you today. First, you'll hand over Grace. Second, you'll help me stop my mother."

"And why should we do that?"

Damon spoke, both vampires looked like he was totally demented. Maybe Elijah was.

"Because I have the girl you love. Or, to put it more accurately, she's with Rebekah. I think you can imagine how much my sister is dying to rip Elena's throat out."

Elijah hated that the Salvatores where so disrespectful that he had to lower himself to bare threats.

"What guarantees us that you won't let Rebekah kill Elena immediately when we hand Grace over."

The old vampire stood up with an unamused chuckle and stepped closer to the younger vampires.

"I would loose my leverage, wouldn't I? Of course I have no intention in hurting Elena, as long as you do as I say. But if you need further motivation..."

Before they could even blink, Elijah crushed his hands through Stefan's rip cage, expertly moving towards his heart and holding it tight. He had experience with it and as much as he hated to kill, he had to admit that feeling a beating heart in his hand had a certain thrill.

He gave Damon a serious look and the Salvatore tensed, but didn't dare to attack. The black haired man was smart enough to know that Elijah could easily take him out, too.

"Lockwood cellar."

Damon mumbled and Elijah smiled satisfied and pulled withdrew his hand. Immediately, he pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his hand clean. Stefan next to him panted.

"Thank you. I will hear from you until six minutes after nine."

Grace hammered against this door as if her life was depending on it. But her strength just wouldn't come back, she was actually getting more exhausted by the second and this damn thing just wouldn't move. Tears of desperation and fear streamed over her cheeks.

Those walls seemed to come closer and closer. Anxiety spread into her every bone and she covered her face with her hands to keep herself from screaming as it was drying her throat out even more. Everything just burnt. She needed blood.

Suddenly, something changed. She heard a loud sound from the outside, like wood falling onto the ground and metal breaking. The door made a little squeaking sound and Grace heard air coming into the room. But she hadn't heard footsteps, so there was no evidence that someone was coming to get her. Grace felt this odd tension of magic in the air.

She immediately crawled over to the door and got to her feet. With her last strength she pushed against the door and to her surprise it flew open. The young vampire fell to her knees and collapsed on the ground.

Seconds after, she saw a shadow rising over her.

"Just the girl I wanted to see."

Finn towered over her weak figure. He grabbed her and helped her to her feet. But instead of letting her go, he continued to drag her with him.

His grip wasn't even hurting her, it was like he was actually careful. When Grace caught glimpse of his face she saw that he had his usual blank of emotion face on, but there was even a hint of that he felt sorry.

"You know, it's nothing personal. But my mother needs you to keep my siblings from interrupting her doing."

Grace gave up fighting and hung more or less in his arms, but when he even intended to pick her up, she hit his hands away. She unfortunately couldn't scratch his eyes out, but that didn't mean that he was allowed to touch her that way.

"Well, you could just let me go and tell her I knocked you out."

She shrugged, to which Finn chuckled.

"Is that really believable concerning the state you're in?"

The younger vampire rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for not sugarcoating it. Do you incidentally have some blood with you? Would make me look much more pleasurable."

Finn seemed amused by the girl's wit. He could understand why his brothers took such an interest in her. But he couldn't allow himself to grow a soft spot. His shook his head and sighed.

"Drinking blood of others...I think that must be your greatest guilt, isn't it? I'm sorry that my family brought this over you. You didn't deserve it. But maybe you'll understand my mother's intention better."

Grace's hands clenched into fists and again tears shot into her eyes by the thought that she could loose Elijah, but she forced herself to not spill them. This wasn't the best time to be emotional.

"It's a mean of survival. Today there are possibilities to not hurt anyone with it. You know, I decided for myself that I want to drink from humans. Why? Because it's my nature and it's okey as long as I learn to not kill them. But you see? I'm not the saint you all think I am. I'm just like you all, but I think we can find a way to be better."

It made the oldest Mikaelson brother stop in his tracks. He turned to look at her.

"That's very noble of you to think. But we're broken beyond repair, Grace. I know you think that Elijah is honorable, but he did things that you could never imagine. That's what makes you different from us. You still have a soul."

What Finn didn't know was that Grace was aware of Elijah's dark side. Maybe not even Elijah himself. He hadn't shown her, but she knew this man better than anyone expected. The thing is, that she didn't care about it.

"Please, Finn, I didn't have enough time with them. You guys are becoming my family. I'll be completely alone. And I know that together, we can figure it all out."

Finn smiled at her pure optimism. It was refreshing, but at the same time pathetic. This prove to him that she didn't know his family at all.

Without another word, he continued walking. What Finn didn't know was that Grace wouldn't just be alone, she would be dead if his mother succeeded. Esther kept from him that the bloodlines were contented to their originator. He wouldn't have helped her if he had known that it would kill Sage, too.

Esther smiled lightly when Finn and Grace arrived and entered the pentagram. Grace just stared at her coldly, her creepy, murdering expression written all over her sweet face.

"I'm sorry, Grace. If everything goes well, you won't be hurt."

Only the witch knew that this was a straight lie.

"Suck my nuts."

Usually Grace wasn't so keen on barbaric insults like that, but Esther didn't deserve it better. Finn even seemed to flinch, but Esther kept her smile on and replied nothing.

The young vampires gaze fell on the two women standing outside the circle. She didn't recognize the older woman, but next to her was Bonnie who looked at her like a puppy. It was clear that she had something to do with this, she probably did the locator spell to track Grace herself, as Esther was busy preparing hers to kill her children.

She sent the witch a death glare to make sure that Bonnie was aware that she knew and that she didn't took her betrayal lightly. Grace knew Bonnie since she was a damn baby. But should she really be surprised? Her own sister let her be dumped into a bloody torture cellar that reeked of werwolf.

It wasn't long before Finn and Grace heard faint rustling coming from the woods. The witches, without supernatural hearing, looked at Finn in question. Esther understood quickly and send the Bennett witches into the old house behind them.

The Original vampire suddenly grabbed Grace tighter and held her in front of her. He pressed a stake to her ribs and suddenly Grace's survival instincts were on. She fought his grip like an animal, but it only made him press the stake harder into her skin. Grace shrieked and tried to kick the much taller man, but stopped when she saw Klaus, Elijah and Kol approaching.

To see the three brothers united was very good, but Grace immediately wondered were Rebekah was.

Elijah's gaze fell onto his lover and his upper lip twitched. He wanted to rush to her and rip his brother off her, but he was stopped by the salt circle around them. His now blackish eyes pierced Finn with a glare.

Grace never had seen such rage on him. He was right to be worried, Grace obviously wasn't in her best shape today. The fact that someone held a stake to her heart that could easily kill her.

"Release her."

Nik was suddenly beside Elijah and snarled. He eyed his mother angrily. Grace felt so sorry that he had to loose her in that way again. It wouldn't help him overcoming his paranoia.

"Kill me, Finn. Now do it! Why are you afraid? Are you afraid that your precious mother will fail and that you'll have to face your brother's wrath?"

Suddenly all eyes where on her. Finn said nothing, but Klaus and Elijah's stares spoke a lot more. They pleaded her not to provoke her any further. But Grace was just trying to buy them time. As she knew the boys, she was sure they had a plan and they were simply the distraction commando.

"Mother, do you really think we care enough about a girl that it will stop us from stopping you?"

Kol said sarcastically. His brother tried hard to not to growl at him for saying things like that. They cared for Grace so much, they couldn't think straight. At least Kol was playing along. Esther still seemed not to be impressed.

"Do you really hate us so much, mother?"

Finally Nik found words. He understood that he had to keep his mother from starting the spell.

"I don't hate you. I love you! And because of it, it's my duty to strip you of the evil I created. I'm deeply sorry, my beautiful boys."

The conversation dragged on, but Grace's strength faded again and she had to concentrate on standing. She wouldn't give Finn the satisfaction of leaning on him to keep herself upright. Elijah seemed to notice, his gaze wasn't leaving her. It was pure torment to see her in her pain and not able to help her.

"...even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, are no better."

Esther was referring to that darker part of him. How could she have the audacity to stand there, trying to justify herself for killing her children and judge them at the same time! And Elijah seemed to believe it. Grace would have loved to shake him to sanity.

But suddenly, their buying of time seemed to result in their victory. The flames around the circle lit up high, whispering voices could be heard and Esther looked to the sky, looking surprised and frightened.

"Sisters! Do not abandon me!"

And then, it was over. The fire died off and Finns grasp around Grace's waist was gone. The stake that threatened her life disappeared, too.

Grace couldn't see that Finn and Esther were gone. She was too weak to stay on her feet by herself. The young vampire fell to her knees, but was caught by Elijah who had immediately rushed to her before she could fall on the hard ground.

"You're safe. It's ok."

He whispered and stroked her hair.


	34. Chapter 34

Elijah held Grace close to his chest. She shivered in his arms and hid her face in the fabric of his shirt. The young vampire didn't want him to see her that way. But she was so powerless and weak right now, she probably had to embarrass herself in front of three flawless looking Originals.

Klaus knelt beside her and tried to make her look at him. Grace had grown so close to his heart, he could barely bear seeing her this way. The towards his mother only grew. He would rip her apart for even daring to touch her. His brother looked like he had the same with mind, but his revenge fantasies were covered by pure worry for his love.

She mumbled things no one could really understand, but both brothers were startled when they heard her creaky voice. At least she was conscious.

"What is it, love?"

Klaus cupped her cheek with his hand. Finally her dark brown eyes opened and relief washed over Klaus and Elijah. Grace looked at her best friend and continued to mumble.

"Blood."

It was the only thing she could bring out. The vervain wasn't fresh in her system, but without adding some blood to even it out, her throat and veins still felt like a desert.

The brothers shared a glance, both of them listen closely if there was coincidentally any stupid hiker out here in the woods. But the only heartbeats were their own or of animal nature.

Elijah couldn't see her suffering for this long. The way back to the town would take them some minutes even if he carried her and even if, how should they explain the girl in Elijah's arms that looked close to death, who by the way was well known among the town's population.

Sighing, Elijah shifted her gently so her mouth touched the skin of his neck. He stroked her hair again soothingly. Of course he didn't want to do something such intimate as blood sharing right in front of his brothers, but Grace's well being was more important now. Fortunately Klaus got the hint and turned away, covering them to give them at least some privacy from Kol's snarky comments.

Grace immediately bit down into his soft skin when she found his pulse with her lips. A slight moan escaped her lips, to which Elijah closed his eyes. He couldn't remember that he ever allowed someone to drink his blood, so like the first time, the pleasure nearly overwhelmed him. It was strange how this feeling differed from simply offering a human blood to heal them. This was way more sexual and intimate. Unfortunately, they couldn't indulge in that flow of emotions. Elijah knew that with his blood, she also could have a look into his mind and he really hoped that she saw only how deeply his feelings for her ran.

"Shut up, Kol."

Klaus growled as his younger brother opened his mouth. He sighed and when he heard that Elijah as gently removing her mouth from his neck, Klaus turned around, trying to avoid the heated gazes they shared. Gently he picked the girl up from his brother's lap as Klaus knew that Elijah would need a minute to recover.

"You ok?"

The hybrid whispered to Grace and she nodded. She seemed to feel better immediately. Her cheeks were still pale and she had deep dark blue circles under her eyes, but at least she didn't look pained anymore.

"Yeah. I think I can walk."

She said calmly, her huge, innocent looking eyes staring into his. Grace hated to be the damsel in distress. Maybe she acted like a child now anyway, but the Mikaelson's overly cute caring actions were a little bit too much for her.

Uncomfortably, she shifted in Klaus' arms until he sat her on her feet. She swayed a little like she was drunk and the hybrid immediately caught her by wrapping his arm around her waist and shooting her a serious look. Grace rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder to see a still troubled looking Elijah. She gave him a small smile to cheer him up, but it didn't seem to help that much.

It was the first time that someone threatened her life because she was important to the family. Guilt washed over Elijah. This was all because of him. If she wasn't together with him, she wouldn't have been in that danger.

Then there was this issue about Elena. Rebekah should've let her go by now and Elijah trusted his sister. Still, he had to tell Grace before her sister did. He wanted her to hear it from him.

Elijah walked up to Klaus and Grace. He straightened the already flawless sleeves of his coat, Grace already knew that this was his nervous habit and she tilted her head to look at him question.

"Grace...there's something you should know."

She motioned for him to continue talking, wondering what he would tell her. He looked like it wasn't anything good.

By the time he finished explaining the Elena situation, they arrived at the Mikaelson estate. Grace grew more quiet by the second. When they arrived at the doorstep, Kol directly went inside and Klaus patted her shoulder lightly before he also left to give them a moment alone.

Elijah and Grace stared at each other, the Original still checking every second if she could really stand on her own, even if he knew that his blood gave her strength at least for some time. He waited for her to speak, his face looked tormented because he realized what he had done. With threatening Elena, he lost some of Grace's trust.

Grace knew that Elijah wouldn't have let Rebekah kill Elena. But the Salvatores and Elena didn't. When it came to Grace's life, the Original grew reckless and that was the only thing that she was afraid of. Of course she would be able to forgive him, but he went to far this time.

She was mad at anyone. Klaus because he didn't listen to his brother straight away, Kol because he was simply there and annoying her, Rebekah played the game along and Elijah because of obvious reasons. But Elena topped it all. She was beyond disappointment for her sister. Grace took a deep breath and made a choice that would have great impact on her life. She had enough. This time, she couldn't simply forgive her sister.

Grace shook her head and wanted to leave without another word, but of course Elijah had to grab her arm. Defeated, she lifted her hands. She didn't even look angry, just exhausted.

"Please, not now."

Nodding, Elijah let go of her and looked after her as she continued to leave the estate. Worry grew again, but she made clear that she wanted to be left alone which he of course understood. He loathed himself so much at that point.

Grace went directly to the Salvatore's home. She knew that she looked shitty right now, but she didn't care. They could see what they have done to her.

The young vampire steamed of anger, but at the same time she was afraid of the confrontation. This would change everything and she had no clue what to do afterwards. Anyway there was no chance that she would continue things like this.

She took a deep breath before she entered the house. Grace was greeted by Stefan, Damon and Elena's judging gazes. They immediately dropped their conversation when she entered.

"Are we at this point where you stop talking when you see me?"

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she raised an eyebrow. All of them eyed Grace's disheveled state, but none of them showed true remorse. As if she deserved to be held captive in a damn cellar.

"Yes, because you can't be trusted, Original bitch."

Damon spat and Grace growled, stepping towards the older Salvatore. She thought about slapping him right across the face, but he wasn't worth the waste of energy.

"How did I become the bad guy in this?"

Shaking her head, she said desperately. Grace would never understand how these people could always expect the least of her, just because she choose the wrong friends for them. But to be honest, Damon couldn't stand her from the beginning on because she hurt his ego. And of course, because Grace was simply different. She had a short temper and was crazy in her very own ways.

"Grace, you must understand. The Mikaelsons are our enemy. Klaus needs to die and the others are...collateral damage."

Stefan said calmly. Elena didn't interrupt any of them to take Grace's side. Of course she didn't. Bewildered Grace looked between the trio in front of them. For them the Mikaelsons were the villains and Grace honestly never wanted to pick sides and choose to keep the peace between them, but now she saw the clearly: the Originals may be monsters, but at least they weren't covering themselves up as the good ones. Elena and the Salvatores were no better than them. They threatened the family for now reason. If they just let Grace talk to Klaus, they would've found a solution to everything. But they had to mistrust her and try to kill them. Kill their sires, the first of their kind. Without them, they would be rotten bones deep in the ground.

"Collateral damage...you know what I call them? Family. Because they have taken me in as one of theirs without hesitation. Accepted me as the person I am. They taught me everything I know. You guys didn't. Elena, for you I died the day I was turned into a vampire. From there on, I was just a potential danger for you. Yes, I changed, but I feel more free than ever before!"

She laughed madly, probably scaring the shit out of them. Grace turned to the Salvatores.

"And you. I was your responsibility. You should've taught me how to control myself, like you did to Caroline. But you didn't care for me! You know who did? The oh so bad Klaus Mikaelson. Because he saw that I could help him being a better man in return. Let's not forget that I saved your ass, Damon. I went away from my home and spent 2 months on an uncontrolled killing spree. I had nothing to do with you, I could've just let you die. And now I would, because you're not worth a damn to me."

Her voice was a snarl. Klaus would've been proud of her speech. It felt so good to let all of this injustice out.

"But what did I get for being kind to you? You break my neck, vervain me and throw me into a cellar to be your leverage! And you, Elena stand by and don't do a thing against it! Everything your precious boyfriends do and coincidentally gets along with your goals is completely alright. And here I stand, being judged by hypocrites for not doing anything at all! Just because I in your eyes chose the wrong friends. Do you even know that it wasn't Elijah who got me out from that cell? His brother, Finn, found me first and threatened my life so Esther could kill her children. If Elijah hadn't got you to sabotage the plan, I would be dead by now! That's what you guys risked. How did I deserve it?"

She was slightly out of breath when she finished. Silence erupted and they stared at her. They didn't knew what happened with Finn and Esther, but they still didn't seem to feel any guilt. Before she could jump anyone throat, she turned around to leave, but then Elena spoke for the first time this evening.

"Because you forgave Klaus. How could you side with him?"

Again shook her head and turned around to safe her sister. Something broke between them and it was irrevocable.

"Do you really think I could ever truly forgive him for hurting you? Do you know why I trust Klaus? He saw his mistake. He tries to apologize it every day. Even Elijah does. But the difference between you now and Klaus then is, that he wasn't my family when this happened. He didn't know me. For him we both were a means to break free from the curse his mother planted on him. But he got to know me and now I would trust him with my life. What you did today Elena is something I can't forgive. I'm your family, I'm your damn sister! Still, you betrayed me, you let your boyfriends torture me. Do you know how this feels? This is worse than dying."

Grace hands trembled heavily and she tried hard not to cry. She needed to keep herself together to prove this point. Just this once she had to be strong, even though she had to be tough for the whole day.

"I can't bear seeing you anymore, Elena. I can't come home and pretend like everything is normal."

Fisteling in her pockets, she pulled her house keys out and placed them on a shelf next to her.

"I'll get my things in some days."

When Elena opened her mouth to speak, Grace lifted her hand to interrupt her. She couldn't hear any more lies just to calm her. The oldest Gilbert hadn't decided this out of rage, it was an inevitable process that started when she died. Because that was what she was to Elena: dead.

She could hear Elena sob behind her, and it nearly pushed her over the edge, so she hurried outside only to be welcomed by heavy rain. A rain that wetted her to the core. It fitted her mood and humiliated her even further, at least it washed the salty tears away.

At first, she had no clue where to go. That's what being homeless felt like. She didn't want to go to the Mikaelsons, because she was still mad at them, but then she reminded herself what she said to Elena and the Salvatores. They were her family. A family sometimes fought and had different opinions, lovers did too. Elijah didn't betray her today like Elena did. He wanted to protect her. He did this to be able to have a future with him.

They loved her. All of them.

Without thinking, her feet got her back to the estate. She felt drawn to it. This maybe wasn't her home yet, but isn't it 'home is where the heart is'? Her love was with Elijah. The rest of her heart belonged to Klaus and Rebekah and of course also to Jeremy, but he wasn't here. Jeremy...another victim of Elena's double standards. When everything had settled, she would visit him and check up on him.

Her quiet sobs followed her the whole way.

"...and I used your hatred of her to get what I wanted. Wielded you like a sword...my sister."

Elijah's voice was full of heavy guilt and remorse. He felt so vulnerable at that moment. Another thing that Grace taught him today. Even if he was a thousand years old, one of the strongest creatures on earth, he could be hurt so easily. Through a stake through a loved ones heart.

Today, Elijah contributed to Grace's pain. Never would she hate him for being a monster, but he hurt her sister today. What would he feel like if she did the same to Rebekah? But Grace was so good, she would probably forgive him.

"Elijah, you did this to protect us. To save the woman you love."

Rebekah frowned, she couldn't understand. Difficult times took difficult measures. Elijah wasn't a monster, he finally had to understand that. She had hoped that Grace would help him with that and it was obvious that she made him happier. But a thousand years of pain needed their time to fade.

"We deserve to live, we are better than they are!"

The blonde continued. Then, her brother stared her directly in her eyes and she could've sworn that she saw tears in them. Elijah never cried. She hadn't seem him spilling a tear in centuries. She felt the urge to hug him, still, the obvious distance he tried to create kept her from doing it.

"Are we?"

He stated and Rebekah wanted to disagree but closed her mouth. She started to understand him. Of course he was right...partly. They still were a family and should do everything to keep their vow.

"Mother made us vampires. She didn't make us monsters. We did that to ourselves."

The siblings looked at each other for a while, before there suddenly was a knock on the door. Without saying anything else, he went to answer the door, wondering who it could be that late.

When he opened the door all the tension and distance he had built up, melted with one gaze. Grace stood in front of him. Her clothes clinging to her, her hair dripping wet. Her eyes were red and puffy. Even tough she couldn't be cold, she shivered.

Elijah opened his mouth in surprise and wonder, but couldn't get out any words.

"Can I stay here for a while?"

Her voice was faint, barely a whisper and interrupted by stifled sobs.

It was then when he realized that he loved her. Of course it wasn't time to say that to her, it would take a long time for that as they had to get over a lot of damage until that happened, but he knew he did. His dead heart pumped faster whenever he saw her and now it hurt because he knew that she was sad.

Instead of replying anything, he grabbed her and pulled her into a long, warm hug. His hand where on her neck and the other on her back and she wrapped her arms around his waist and simply cried. She finally could let all those unshed tears out. Her wet clothing stained his neat shirt but he couldn't care less at that moment. She was so special, so precious and Elijah had the honor to hold her in his arms and be her stability.

When the tears faded, he carried her into his bedroom and helped her change. None of them had expected that they would sleep side by side that soon again. But the comfort they gave each other, even if Elijah didn't know yet what had happened to hers and Elena's relationship, was the only thing that kept the day from being a complete disaster.


	35. Chapter 35

"I could get used to that."

Grace smiled as she watched Elijah fix his tie, which was something she could do forever. She still was in his amazingly comfortable bed, the warm sheets wrapped around her. His scent was all over this room and it gave her tingles. Usually she would feel uneasy because this here was all his, including the oversized shirt she wore. But with him it was just different. They were vampires, they were simply beyond money and property.

"It's good to see you smiling again. I was worried yesterday."

Sighing she fell back onto the pillows. The argument with her sister came back to her mind. Today she saw it with a clearer mind. She did the right thing. Grace couldn't have lived for another day in her shared home with Elena. Too much had happened. It wasn't pride that drove her, she would have swallowed it for a better relationship with her sister, but mistrust had grown between them and she simply couldn't face that every minute, whenever she was at home where she should feel comfortable.

She stared to the artfully painted ceiling. This room was delicate. It fitted Elijah's character, but she was a little surprised by the light colors he chose. There was a lot of vintage, antique looking furniture and carpets that must've cost a fortune, but light was the main theme, besides from books, which was another surprising thing considering he had a massive study downstairs. She didn't expect a red room of pain, but it still was lighter than she would've thought.

But then she got it. Where light was, shadows came with it. That was exactly who he was. A game of light and shadows. Grace was in the middle of it, playing with that kind of fire. She stared at him wondering, admiring the way he moved. So elegant, but obvious that a predator was hidden under all this fine linen.

"A penny for your thoughts."

He turned around to face her, his dark brown eyes a chocolate color as the sunlight highlighted it.

"I'm asking myself if you're really ok with me living here...like permanently and not just for some days."

A smile tugged on his lips and he stepped closer. Grace felt the mattress shift when he sat down and then she felt his hand cupping her cheek.

"I couldn't be more delighted. I have to admit that it has been a long time since I slept that well like in the last two nights. With you by my side."

Her heart melted right in front of him. She felt exactly the same. It was unbelievable how homey she felt in here. Grace hoped that Rebekah and Klaus were ok with it, too.

Elijah leaned forward to kiss her gently. She returned the kiss smiling. But after a way too short while, Grace pulled back.

"You probably have tons to do now that your mother turned out to be an evil witch and I'm here distracting you."

He chuckled and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"I have to admit that I really like you distracting me. But to be honest I allowed myself to spent the morning with you. There's not much I can do about mother."

Actually there was. He could chase after her, find out what she was cooking up after her plan to kill them failed. But he wouldn't leave Grace alone here, still, on the other hand he wouldn't dare ask her to come with him. She had too much unfinished business here.

Grace nodded and stood up, coming to a stop in front of the mirror. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed by her condition. Her eyes still had a hint of red from crying to much, she was pale and her hair was an absolute mess.

Elijah seemed to notice her being upset, as he was quick to step behind her and wrap an arm around her waist. Their gazes met in the mirror and he light placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Don't. Grace, you're beautiful. You always are."

Sighing, she leaned against his chest and examined their reflexion in the mirror. He was so damn good looking. A contrast to her disheveled figure with his flawless suit and neatly combed hair.

"I should borrow some clothes from Rebekah, have a hot shower and then I'll probably feel better."

Withdrawing his arm from her to set her free, he nodded.

"I already made sure you have something to dress...and for breakfast."

He motioned to a shelf were a blood bag was placed. A spark of admiration lit up in her eyes, thankful that he took care of everything she would need. It was unbelievingly cute of him and she then knew that this had been the right decision. She was safe here, safer than anywhere else.

"One last thing...um..."

It surprised her that he was actually able to hesitate. Usually he was so confident in his speak. She even could've sworn that a flush was creeping up his neck.

"...I can look for another room for you to occupy, if you don't feel comfortable."

An awkward atmosphere rose, but Grace broke it by laughing. Smiling she shook her head. Elijah noticed that with seeing her eyes shining brightly, he immediately felt warm and ripped away from any dark moods.

"I'm perfectly fine here."

He was just a gentleman through every cell in his body. This Original vampire, one of the most powerful creatures on earth, something similar to a king, cared so much about her well being that he actually asked himself if she could feel uncomfortable by sharing his bed with her.

"I'll wait for you downstairs."

With one last amused glance at her, he disappeared through the door.

Grace took her time to relax under the state-of-the-art shower. She could have spent hours here, but as she knew Elijah, he meant it that he would be there only for her today. Wrapped in a towel, she quickly brushed her teeth and put on the brand new expensive clothing he bought her. Again she noticed how much thought he spent on her being here. He managed to get her cosmetic products, a toothbrush and clothing within less than an hour. No one had ever done something like that for her.

A minute later, she found Elijah in the massive living room, sitting on one of the couches with a book placed on his crossed legs. He spared a short glance at her, but instead of joining him on the sofa, Grace paced around the room, inspecting it closely. She had helped Klaus with some of the decoration, but she never had time to have a closer look at the finished room.

Finding herself fascinate by the shiningly black piano, she carefully touched the clean white keys. It was an old model, but obviously cherished throughout time and restored with expertise. Grace didn't really know much about musical instruments, but she enjoyed it when furniture, decoration and relicts like this piano had their history.

"Do you play?"

She asked, curious about his answer. Even if they moved forward fast in their relationship in the last few days, there still was so much to find out about him. Especially those basic little things. Sometimes he was quite hesitant to share those. In the night of the ball she asked him what his favorite food was and he answered that he had none. She wasn't satisfied at first with it, but then he told her that he had experienced so many flavors, so many different senses that were tickled by it, that he couldn't tell. It gave her hope that he actually had lived a life between saving his family.

"Yes, I do."

Elijah answered, forcing his eyes to stay at the lines he already read a hundred times before, but now he couldn't concentrate on them. Still, he was afraid to embarrass her by staring at her all the time. He enjoyed to take in the way she moved, the gestures she made. It was his way of getting to know her.

"Do you enjoy music?"

He asked when he was sure that she wouldn't continue this conversation. It was then when he noticed that after a long while he enjoyed talking about those unimportant things of life. Once music, history and art were something he cherished, but it faded away over time, when he realized that he was about to fail the vow he and his siblings once swore to each other, with the climax that he tried to kill his own brother. Grace helped so much to bring him back to the right path, to care about that little bond of trust that was developing between his siblings. His mother and the Salvatores where the ones that put that in danger.

"Kind of. But not the active way. I don't know how to play an instrument. Well, I'm told to be quite a good singer, but more the under the shower type."

Her laugh was light and it was like music to his ears. She even flushed a little while talking about her hidden talent. Elijah could imagine that her sweet voice would sound amazing singing. A smile tugged on his lips and he couldn't help but put his book aside. He walked closer to her.

"I would love to hear you singing."

His curiosity was sparked, but he also wanted to take her mind full off her quarrel with her sister. He still didn't really know what happened, but she would tell him when the time was right. It must've been very harsh, Grace wasn't the person to turn her back on her family easily.

Grace now felt her cheeks getting a deep red color and she chuckled shyly.

"Oh no. I haven't sung since..."

"...since you became a vampire?"

His eyes were staring right into her soul. She wanted to look away, but her placed his index finger under her chin to prevent it. Nodding, she rolled her eyes.

"With the heightening of your senses, music changes, too. It's more intense. Every tune is like a pure emotion. But when you get used to it, you will experience every sound richer, you will feel it with every cell of your body."

At the end of the sentence, his voice grew lower, like a whisper and Grace got a hint of what he meant. She felt her bodies reaction to his voice. She could hear every shade of his deep baritone, as if every phoneme lit another part of her on fire. Her breath hitched and lost in this feeling, she let her hand wander down his chest. He leaned down to kiss her, but Grace knew that she couldn't stop if he kissed her know.

"Scarborough Fair. That's my favorite song to sing. Do you know the tunes?"

It took her all of her self control to not let it happen right now. She wasn't sure if singing was the best idea in a house full of people that had supernatural hearing and that wouldn't hesitate to tease her if she sucked. Her voice was probably pretty rusty.

But of course Elijah nodded and sat down on the small stool in front of the piano. It wasn't long before the first soft tunes of the beautiful song sounded from the amazing instrument. Even if he didn't if he played just from remembering, he didn't make any fault, no disharmony interrupted the sweet melody.

Grace took a deep breath and closed her eyes to shut herself from feeling embarrassment.

 _Are you going to Scarborough Fair...parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..._

Elijah's whole body tensed in surprise when he heard the impact of her brilliant, clear, sweet voice. It didn't interrupt his perfect play, maybe it made him put even more passion into it. Her usually relatively deep voice came to a surprisingly clear soprano, but it also made a chill of pleasure run down his spine when the song came to deeper tunes. He lacked of words to describe it, but she sounded so utterly genuine and free while singing that it made his heart swell.

Klaus' found himself drawn to the sound of Grace's voice. It tickled his senses when he was in his room painting and he felt the urge to hear more of it. The sound became richer by every step he took towards the living room. He recognized Grace's voice immediately, but he still was stunned. The hybrid hadn't known that his friend was capable to produce such lovely tunes from her tiny body. But it fitted her. She was passionate, emotional, but still stable and sophisticated while singing, like her self confidence grew with every second she had to explore her own voice with her new senses.

He felt pleased to see Elijah play the piano again. Did Grace even knew that he hadn't played in years? She made him. It was another thing that Klaus admired about her. This girl had a way to make people rediscover the good parts in them. She even did it with him. But the power she had over Elijah was fascinating. It made a part of his brother come out that Klaus thought was long lost. For this short moment, in their bubble of music, he looked carefree. Klaus himself hadn't seen this kind of love in a long time.

He would have awaited that he would envy their bond. But he didn't. It surprised him that he didn't feel scared or threatened to loose his brother, because he loved someone else more than he loved Klaus. Maybe because he knew Grace. He knew that Grace would never have any impulse of trying to rip his family apart.

Suddenly, Elijah lifted his gaze and met Klaus'. The brothers stared at each other meaningfully for a while, before a joyful smile came upon Elijah's expression and he spared a short, admiring look on Grace.

This moment brought a feeling that he thought was long lost for him. Hope. Hope that one day his family could be happy. Klaus was sure that the girl that had meddled her way into his heart would have a great part in it.

I know this chapter didn't do anything to push the story forward, but I had the feeling that Elijah, Grace and Klaus deserved a little moment of peace. 3


	36. Chapter 36

In the afternoon Rebekah took Grace away from the Mikaelson estate to the Grill, because she had a meeting with Carol Lockwood. The blonde thought that her brother's girl would be helpful in this case, as the mayor liked her.

On their way, she filled Grace in about what she discovered in that cave. Of course Grace was quite shocked to hear that there was still a weapon out there that could kill her loved ones. She tried her best not to be nervous, see it as an enjoyable afternoon with Rebekah and not ruin the cheery mood Elijah had put an effort in to establish.

But another problem was, that the risk of seeing Elena or any of her friends in the Grill was high. She probably would rip some heads off if she was confronted with that matter today.

The girls took place at a table in the middle of the restaurant, so they could watch their surroundings. This was a highly sensitive topic and it should definitely not be heard by the wrong kind of people. Grace even asked herself why the hell she asked Carol to come to the Grill, a highly public place, but then again she saw the point, because the mayor would probably get suspicious if an Original pushed for a meeting in the middle of nowhere.

Sighing, she ordered a tea and waited for Carol to arrive. Thankfully, she didn't arrive too late. The mayor and Grace exchanged cheek kisses to greet each other and sat down after Carol shook Rebekah's hand.

"What can I do for you girls?"

Carol asked to which Rebekah smiled charmingly.

"Grace hooked me up on some town history and I was interested in the town's monuments and older buildings. As you're the head of the Preservation committee I thought you could help."

The mayor returned the smile.

"It was in the Lockwood woman's hands for a long time, before they got real jobs. What exactly are you looking for?"

That was the point. Both women had no clue what they were looking for. They couldn't tell which building or monument was made of white oak. Grace's mind raced, but then she suddenly had an idea.

"Rebekah wants to explore how the land she was born in changed over the centuries. I think a lot of forest is where your old village was. Maybe the old milling documentaries are a start. Do you who kept them, Carol? I just know my family didn't."

Rebekah flashed her a thankful smile, but was then distracted by something behind Carol. Grace shortly followed her gaze and saw that she stared at Damon. Oh no. Her friend couldn't fall for that dick, he only played with her, that was something she could be sure of. But we were talking about Rebekah, she had a history of ignoring such signs. Quickly she nudged her with her foot to get her attention back.

"I think the Salvatores have them."

Great. Speaking of the devil. Grace held back her sigh when she saw the devious expression that plastered on Rebekah's face.

"Thank you very much, Carol. You helped a lot."

The oldest Gilbert flashed the mayor a polite smile, followed Rebekah who already said goodbye to the mayor and walked towards the Salvatore brothers.

Grace rolled her eyes and took a deep breath in. She seriously didn't want to talk to any of Elena's bodyguards today, but she had to make sure that Rebekah behaved. No way in hell would Elijah's litte sister be hurt on her watch.

"What are you doing here, traitor?"

Damon said rudely, but Grace didn't give him much attention. She simply nipped on her tea, even tough the urge to drink this bottle of vodka in front of her empty was huge. Alcohol didn't solve problems, but made them much funnier.

"Drinking a tea with my friend, do you have a problem with that?"

The older Salvatore shook his head, an angry expression in his ice blue eyes. He really cared that deeply for Elena that he got mad at persons that upset her and couldn't hide it.

"You have a really bad taste in friends...especially boyfriends."

Grace couldn't help but chuckle.

"I would say stones in glasshouses, Damon, but I honestly don't want to deepen that topic tonight."

Thankfully, Rebekah started to babble that effectively that the attention was off Grace. Unfortunately she directly asked them about the milling documentaries, which was a pretty stupid move. So far the Salvatores weren't on the track Rebekah and Grace were following, but now she got the boys interested. Even if she was a thousand years old, the girl had so much to learn. Especially now that she couldn't simply compel them.

Some time later, both men ditched Rebekah and went to another place in the Grill, explaining it with 'boys night'. A little grin spread on Grace's face and she quickly hid it with a cough. Rebekah send her a glare and followed after the boys to annoy them further. She really was desperate and bored.

Grace stayed where she was and ordered another tea, watching the trio. Stefan seemed so changed. He had developed a nervous habit of making a knocking sound with his ring. She immediately figured that it must be because of his ripper-bloodlust-thing. Grace herself had gotten it under control pretty well lately, but Stefan seemed to have a bigger issue with that. Her thoughts brought her back to the time she spent with Klaus and Stefan. The younger Salvatore had understood her and she did the same with him and now even they had grown estranged because of Elena. It was a pity.

When the group shifted to the exit, the young vampire followed them. She wanted to go home as soon as possible and she was curious to what Damon and Rebekah were up to with Stefan.

Walking next to Rebekah in silence, she watched Stefan who walked in front of them. Poor soul. But Damon was right, he needed to learn. He couldn't survive without blood. It was a vampires nature.

They came to halt when they saw a young woman getting out of her car.

"Perfect opportunity."

Damon said grinning and was already in front of her, compelling her to be quiet before he bit into her neck to get his brother's attention. When the smell of blood hit her senses, she noticed how hungry she was. Not counting Elijah's and her intermezzo last evening, she hadn't drunk straight from the vein in weeks. She was tempted to have a bit for herself.

Damon pushed the girl Grace's arms to present her better for Stefan, who couldn't hold himself together anymore. He growled and fought the urge, but of course lost. After he bit into the young woman's neck, Grace took her wrist and bit into it, too. She enjoyed the warmth of the hot red liquid and again noticed how much better this was then blood bags. Now that she was able to stop, she should drink more regularly.

"Stefan?"

Suddenly, Elena's shocked voice came up from behind her. The least person Grace could need right now. Stefan immediately pulled back, his love seeming to be the only one that could stop him from drinking.

Surely her sister had this judgy look on again. But Grace had enough of it. A devilish smile spread on her lips. With the girl still in her arms she turned around to face Elena, who now stared at the stranger's bleeding wounds with wide eyes and disgust written all over her. Matt stood next to her, having a similar expression. The blonde boy stared at her with hatred, not that Grace would ever care. They could hate her as much as they wanted to.

Grace pushed the injured girl into Elena's arms who suddenly shrieked, Matt helped her get the girls weight off her.

"Are you shocked, Elena? You shouldn't, because you actually know who we all are. That's our nature. Look at your precious boyfriend, that's who he really is. Wake up, Elena. Your judgment is hypocritical."

The vampire's face was emotionless and mocking. She flashed her a cruel smile and wiped a bloodstain from her chin before she turned around and took off. No one was talking, they all were just staring at her. Only Rebekah seemed to be impressed. Grace send her a questioning glance, asking of she wanted to come home with her, but the Original shook her head. Shrugging, she just went on her way, she could watch out for herself from now on. Rebekah was surely old enough.

She quickly texted Elijah that she was on her way and then continued to ask through the dark streets. Since she was a vampire, she wasn't afraid of the darkness anymore, because she herself was one of the monsters lurking in the shadows. Grace remembered how scared she always been to be alone outside after dawn with a smile.

After she made half the way, she suddenly heard someone behind her. She frowned, she could've sworn that this person was following her. What a bad idea to stalk on a vampire. But then she remembered that Klaus had gotten crazy with his hybrid protection.

"Please, tell Klaus that I will kick his balls if he doesn't realize that I can watch out for myself soon."

She turned around to face the person behind her, but suddenly she felt a harsh pain in her stomach. Then she felt warm blood run down first her belly and then the legs. Instinctively, she tried to reach out for the attacker, but he was clever, he jumped back before she could fight back. Grace looked down and only then realized that she had a stake sticking out of her stomach. That person staked her. She couldn't believe it.

Even for a vampire it all happened the fast. The attacker had the effective element of surprise. Grace felt herself falling to her knees. She wanted to get up again, but then she heard a gunshot right in front of her. Closing her eyes, she waited for more pain to add. It didn't happen.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a broad back in front of her she very certainly knew. Elijah. He walked up to the attacker while he fired more and more bullets into the Original's chest, Elijah taking them all without even blinking. He grabbed grabbed him by the throat and held him up in the air. Elijah hesitated a bit and she asked herself why, but then she heard the cracking sound of a neck snapping.

He let the attacker fall to the ground and rushed to Grace's side. At first, she looked at her lovers face and saw him flinching a bit when he knelt down beside her. The bullets must've been wooden, if not, they wouldn't have hurt Elijah. She wanted to see who the attacker was, but she was too distracted by the stake in her stomach. Panting, she meet Elijah angered eyes. He checked for any more injuries.

"I need to pull the stake out, Grace."

Carefully, he loosened her grip around the stake and with one swift movement, he ripped it out of her. Grace cried out in pain, but felt instant relief. The wound was already closing when Elijah helped her to her feet. His shirt had gaping holes and his blood was staining the fabric. They had to get them out of him soon. It wouldn't kill him, but they still couldn't stay in.

"Who the hell..."

Grace stopped mid sentence when her eyes fell on the face of the guy who just staked her. It was Alaric. God damn nice history teacher Alaric Saltzman. Grace knew that he was once a vampire hunters, but he wouldn't hurt her. Besides him from being on team Elena, they never held any grudge.

Anger lit her veins on fire and her mouth became a tight line. She turned around to see that she was only mere feet away from the street she grew up in. Shaking her head, she mumbled some insults before she grabbed the temporarily dead man's collar. She dragged his corpse behind her while she started walking towards the Gilbert house. With her other hand, she grabbed Elijah's arm. He followed, but had a frown on his face. Even if he tried to hide it, Grace could see that he was in pain. Elijah just had taken a load of bullets for her, of course he was. She would have been dead if it weren't for him.

"Where are you going?"

He asked.

"To my 'family's' home. My sister needs a fair warning."

Silence erupted and the rage inside Grace stayed stable, but then again questions made their way into her mind.

"What were you doing out here?"

She asked softly, gently squeezing Elijah's forearm.

"I wanted to surprise you with some food and a movie. After I received your message, I remembered that you once said to me that you enjoy popcorn. I was on my way to find you and ask you if you wanted to join me on my way to the supermarket when I heard you screaming."

His voice faded into a whisper when he said the last words. It seemed to physically and psychologically hurt him when he knew that his love was in pain. The memory of her scream sent a shiver down his spine.

Grace's shoulders sunk down and she gave him a side glance. He was so amazing. That man remembered something from a conversation they had months ago and then went out just to buy her popcorn. Well and on his way, he took freaking wooden bullets for her. Just a normal, romantic day in a vampire's life. How could he always be so strong? This Original-vampire-authority radiated off him all the time and he didn't even made a sound when he was shot a dozen times.

"I would tell you how cute this is of you, but the situation is not fitting."

She motioned for the corpse she dragged behind her when she reached the porch. Luckily for Elena, the door was unlocked. Grace would've kicked it in if she needed to.

Her sister must've just arrived, Matt's truck was still in the driveway. Alaric's feet made a rumbling noise when they got inside, which made Elena and Matt storm into the hall. They watched with their eyes wide open and their mouths gaping as Grace dragged Alaric's body into the kitchen. She let him fall to the ground. Elijah was close behind her.

"Your lumberjack hill billy just tried to kill me."

Of course Elena showed concern to him. Would she do this for Grace? She guessed not. Not anymore.

"What? He wouldn't!"

Her sister shot Grace glares. Did she really believe Grace simply killed him out of fun? She really still didn't get that the oldest Gilbert wanted peace. Killing the town's history teacher would've been a dumb move.

"Seems you don't know him that well. He came up from behind me, staked me through my stomach. Then he wanted to shoot me with wooden bullets. Thankfully, Elijah saved my life."

Matt's and Elena's gazes flickered to Elijah, they didn't even notice him coming in.

Grace grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him to the kitchen table, so he could lean on it while she got the bullets out from his chest. She couldn't bear seeing him in pain until they reached his home and Elena could see how much this man got hurt in order to save her sister from being killed.

With one movement of her hand, she ripped his ruined shirt open to reveal six still open wounds. Her hands were gentle on him as she examined the the bullet holes. She surely needed tweezers.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else..."

His gaze shifted from Elena to Grace, who just shook her head.

"No, you need her now. at least you won't stain a carpet here."

With vampire speed, she rushed to the bathroom and got tweezers and towels. The two humans in the room still were frozen in spot, Elena looking at her sister and Elijah again with that slightly disgusted look on her face. She simply couldn't accept their relationship.

"I'm sorry."

Grace whispered, apologizing beforehand for the pain she would inflect in order to get the bullets out. She stepped between his legs and stole a short peck on his lips before she started her work.

He was so patient, he didn't make a sound or moved while she tried her best to fetch the bullets. On the side of her mind, Grace couldn't help but admire his strongly built muscles.

For some moments, they all stayed silent until suddenly Grace realized something. She had gotten out three bullets and was now moving out to the tougher ones when she started speaking.

"Think, Elena. I'm a council member. I belong to a founding family. I'm a vampire. Here you have you're serial killer. It's been him all the time."

Desperately, Elena shook her head.

"No, no, it can't be him."

Grace rolled her eyes annoyed and accidentally ripped a bullet out with too much force. She send Elijah an apologizing look, to which he smiled lightly.

"Well, then why do you think he attacked me? I haven't done anything to him."

"...you've been off the rails lately. He has all reasons to do it."

Matt chirped in, but looked slightly frightened when Elijah shot him a warning glare. Grace only chuckled.

"You know what? Figure that out on yourselves, what do I care. I'm outta here. Elijah and I will grab some of things and tomorrow I'll sent you a notary, who'll give you the full the deed to this house and in return you'll give me the lake house. I want it in my name so the Mikaelsons can enter."

They all looked at her in bare surprise. In this moment Grace got out the last bullet and satisfied she watched as the wounds closed. She got every splinter out.

"No discussion, Elena. I want nothing to do with this anymore. This is your problem now."

Grace grabbed Elijah's hand and together they walked upstairs, leaving her words hanging in the air. It was the only solution for this problem. She needed to get out of this town for a while, distance herself from the fight with her sister. The young vampire knew that this was all come crashing down to her, she had no clue how she kept herself together that well today. But when the emotions came, it would be better if she was somewhere else. It would be easier to think.

Sighing, she sat down on her untouched bed and covered her face with her hands shortly. She felt the mattress shift when Elijah sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Carefully he lifted the fabric of her teared shirt to check if the wound had properly healed.

"I'm ok."

Grace whispered and leaned her head on his shoulder. Again a day where everything just had been too much. Would she ever have a normal day again?

"No, you aren't."

His voice was so deep and soothing, it always comforted her. He cared for her, protected her. Grace would never understand why Elena couldn't accept Elijah with her sister. Grace never judged her relationship with the two brothers.

"Take me away from here."

She whispered and interlaced their fingers. Elijah tilted his head in question.

"Elijah, I know that you need to chase after your mother. You know she'll never stop conspiring, threatening your life. We need to find her, so we know what she's plotting and stop her."

The Original sighed. Sometimes he couldn't belief how sharp her eye for things surrounding her was. He tried hard to get it away from her, so she wouldn't feel bad from keeping him in Mystic Falls even if he had to find his mother. For him, Grace was more important.

"It's too dangerous."

He shook his head, to which Grace squeezed his hand.

"Please, it's the only thing I can do to help. You and your family...you've saved my life twice in the last two days. I also desperately need to get out of town for some time. Elijah, you and me, together, wherever the leads will take us. That's what I want."

Elijah stared at her for a while. A bit of relief spread inside him because he could finally go against that nagging feeling of knowing that Esther was still out there. But also there was worry, because he feared that Grace's life could be in danger again. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her, especially if it was because of her connection to his family.

Sighing, he nodded before he placed a kiss on her forehead. Together they stood up and collected some of Grace's personal items and clothing.

A light smile crept on Grace's face. Even tough her life just had been seriously threatened by Alaric, she felt the chains of Mystic Falls falling off her. She looked at Elijah while she couldn't await getting on the road with him.


	37. Chapter 37

Elena seemed to have understood how serious Grace's words were. In the morning, the deeds were changed, the lake house was now fully hers.

It was the first stop of their mission. Elijah and Grace would settle there for some time to figure out a plan. They needed to be away from Mystic Falls' habit of always interrupting things, so they could find and chase after leads. Adding, they needed to find a reliable witch that could trace Grace's magic. Elijah had some witches he could trust, but since Esther's reanimation became public rumor among the witches, they all have been hesitant to help the Original. But they would find a way. They always did.

Their departure didn't take long. Together with Rebekah and Klaus they had a talk about how they were supposed to go on. The duo would stay in Mystic Falls, but kept their eyes open for Finn, who would probably be easier to find and concentrate on finding them a witch to unlink them. Hugs were exchanged, all of them struggling not to be emotional. They would all see each other again. Them dying wasn't an option. But of course it still it clung to them with some kind of melancholy. It were strange times and saying goodbye must feel very scaring after a thousand years together, when there was actually a chance that they wouldn't see each other again.

Grace wouldn't cry today. She had sworn it to herself. That's why she was eager to leave town quickly, even if it felt hard to leave Klaus and Rebekah behind. The young vampire needed distance between her and all the misery this town brought to her and she desperately needed some time with Elijah. Some nights ago they had hope to have a bright future in front of them. The wish was still there, but again there were many obstacles. They had to get through this and Grace knew that Elijah was the only one that could help her process her splitting with Elena.

In silence, they walked out of the mansion and to Elijah's Porsche. After he opened the door for Grace, he flipped into the drivers seat. Grace took a deep breath in when he started the engine, which Elijah immediately noticed and looked at her, silently asking her if she was ok. Nodding, she sighed and closed her eyes, waiting for him to let the massive car roll onto the street.

It was strange what kind of emotions unfolded in Grace when they drove past the town's sign. Half a year ago she came here to reconnect with her family, watch out for them and now she fled because of them. Still, she had received so much in her time here. Grace had found a new family and a man that loved her with all of his heart.

Quickly, she pushed the dark thoughts away and forced herself to forget about this kind of drama for a while. Elijah and her had a mission, but Grace was also happy to spend some time alone with him.

She then noticed how free she felt after she exited Mystic Falls. A wide smile spread on her face, she took Elijah's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly. The Original looked at her, as always delighted when he saw her smiling like that.

"I just needed to get out of here again."

Chuckling, she shook her head. Grace knew that her overwhelming emotions must let her seem quite crazy, but she knew that Elijah understood.

The two hour drive was pretty silent, but with every mile they put between them and Mystic Falls, a very different kind of tension grew. They realized that they were all on the own. Actually it was the first time they really were alone, without any chance to be interrupted or faced with new cruelty.

Grace struggled hard with herself to not ask him to immediately stop and release the held back passion she had for him. Elijah sparing her side glances and touching her from time to time didn't make it any better. This reduced space made it hard to breathe with all the sexual tension in the air. It came out of nowhere and it overwhelmed them both.

When they reached the lake house, it was already getting dark. The last sunbeams painted the house and the surroundings in warm, soft colors. Grace knew how amazing the lake looked at that time of the day. Usually light fog would cover the surface and make it look even more magical.

She got out of the car and her lips curled upwards when she remembered all the happy time she spent here. Grace had always loved this house more than her home. There was a time where she actually planned to move out here and write a book.

Suddenly, she was ripped out of her thoughts when Elijah picked her up and literally attacked her lips with his. A squeak of surprise escaped her mouth. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and returned the kiss. She grabbed his shoulders to not fall down.

"Seems like you're as horny as I am."

Grace said breathlessly after Elijah pulled back to let them both catch their breaths. He chuckled, his gaze fixed on her full lips, his hands on her lower back. She was so close, the feeling of her legs tightly around him and her obviously willing to share her lust with him nearly drove him crazy.

"I wouldn't use the same term as you do, my lady, but we certainly have the same connotation."

Of course he felt the same way as she did for the whole drive here. The tension made it awfully long and it took all of his restraint not to simply give in to the passion in the middle of nowhere in his car. But she deserved better. Still, he couldn't hold himself back anymore. He never minded wearing his suit, but right now every part, especially his intimate areas were way too tight.

Before she could drag out her teasing, he kissed her again and he sped over to the door and pressed her back against it.

"Keys."

His voice was nearly a growl and Grace immediately obeyed. This was a whole different side of Elijah and she was excited to explore it. He was hungry. Hungry for her. His eyes were nearly pitch black and it started to lit a fire in her that concentrated in her lower stomach and woke something wild inside her, a part of her that she didn't know herself yet.

With surprisingly calm hands he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He rushed inside and carried her to a room that looked like a bedroom. Grace chuckled and spared a short gaze over her shoulder, but Elijah immediately pulled her in for the next kiss.

"Elijah, this is my parents bedroom."

Her voice gave away that she didn't really minded and Elijah noticed that she definitely was a little tease. He would explore it later one, but not today. He couldn't contain his lust for her anymore, there would be time for games when they finally passed that line of having their first time together.

"I could take you to the carpet if it's what you want."

He gave her one of that dashing smiles that left her stunned and she quickly shook her head. Then there was a shift in pace. Elijah's movements were now slow, not teasing, but he wanted to take his time to discover every inch of her. Claim her body as his. He wanted to get to know how her body would react to the pleasure he would give her.

Gently, he laid her down on the huge, soft bed. It was a little dusty, but they didn't really notice that detail. Elijah leaned down and propped himself up over her. At first he urged her for another long kiss before his lips began to wander. His tongue tasted her tender skin and a light moan escaped her lips when he sucked at a very sensitive spot. Her back arched upwards and crashed into his hard chest and Elijah felt tempted to taste her blood again. He felt that she would enjoy it, too, but he didn't want their first time to become dark and end in a pool of blood. They both remembered how it felt like to share each other's life essence and it was tempting and arousing. Grace was up to try it, but she also knew that they were close to develop an addiction for each other and she preferred to stay in the not so weird field for tonight.

Instead, Elijah's mouth wandered deeper and he came across the barrier of her shirt. Grace also noticed how annoying their clothes became and tugged on his suit jacket. She quickly sat up and removed her loose shirt, while Elijah threw his jacket away. When she noticed that he wanted to unbutton his shirt, she lightly growled and pushed his hands away before she simply ripped it apart. His chuckle was muffled by her capturing his lips.

The Original's hands expertly found and unclasped her bra and he allowed himself a moment to lean back and stare down to his love. He surely enjoyed the view onto her bare breasts, but generally he again realized that this woman was perfection.

"You're truly beautiful, Grace Gilbert."

Usually Grace would've felt very self-conscious and insecure, but not with Elijah. She didn't even made an attempt to cover her breasts, to be honest she felt even more turned on by his longing gaze and his words.

From then on, Grace forgot anything around her. All their sorrows were gone and it was just Elijah and Grace for that short episode of their lives. Seeing this perfection of a man bare, vulnerable and sexually aroused in front of her was something she would never forget. He only had eyes for her and when she felt him inside her for the very first time, she wasn't able to describe it. An explosion of emotions, senses and feelings was a cliche image, but it was the closest to what she experienced.

They moved and acted in unison, it wasn't the usual fight for dominance that Grace fought with the partners she had before. She was sure that it would be great fun to have that with Elijah soon, when they got closer to know the other's preferences. There was so much to explore, so much to find out about each other and even about themselves. Even today Grace explored a side of herself that she didn't know before and for Elijah being with her was something entirely different, too. Not in a thousand years of life time, he had experienced such intimacy with a woman like he had with Grace right now.

Elijah and Grace were the same and that was what made it so special. They waited long for this to happen and it would left them with a whole new kind of trust and vulnerability in their relationship. It was a night that both would carry in their hearts forever.

Again it was a night without any nightmares for both of them, because they were so close. Skin touched skin. Him sleeping by her side was the most calming thing she could think of.

In the morning, Grace woke up and noticed that his warmth was gone. Still tired and a tad bit confused, she frowned and looked around. For a split second there was that panic again, fear that something had happened to him. That he was gone forever. But then she quickly laughed at herself for her growing paranoia. He was a free man, he didn't need to spend every second at her side.

She stood up and slipped into a comfy satin robe, before she went outside where her vampire hearing could make out sound that differed from the birds, the light lapping of water touching the sandy shore. Smiling, she took in the amazing sight she got when she small bridge that went onto the lake. The sun already shone dimly, making the lake sparkle in the light. But the best of it all was Elijah swimming in it. His light skin made a contrast to the dark color of the water as he parted it with long strokes. It must be damn cold, but of course it didn't bother the vampire.

Grace walked to the end of the creaking, old bridge, sat down and let her toes touch the cool water while she simply watched him swimming. She shook her head grinning when she noticed that was honestly split naked, a fresh towel was placed beside her.

Elijah noticed her watching him and he smiled to himself as he turned to approach her. He swam to the bridge.

"Don't you want to join me?"

She laughed. Sometimes it was still quite unusual to her that it wouldn't have any consequence for her to take a swim in ice cold water. Grace never had been much of a good swimmer, but maybe that would change now. Teasingly, Elijah grabbed her by her waist and she laughed even louder, trying to keep him from wetting her robe. They playfully messed around before Elijah got out of the water and wrapped the towel around his hips. Another sight she could get used to.

He took a seat beside her and wrapped an arm around Grace's slim waist.

"Do you like it here?"

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was so quiet out here, none of the other residents were out at the lakeside at this time of the year.

"Yes, I do. A place like that is a rare treasure. But to be honest property kind of fades in importance over the years. It's your company that I'm delighted to have."

He placed a kiss on her hair.

"My company. An interesting choice of words concerning last night's events."

The young vampire winked at him. Elijah could literally see right in front of him how Grace loosed up. But he did so himself. For a short moment of piece all the horror, all the vows he swore were lifted from his shoulders.

"I think words are impossible to find for that."

Grace let her gaze wander over the beautiful nature around them. She hoped that they would have more moments like this. In order to have those, they needed to eliminate the threat of his mother, but for that they had to drop out of their small sensitive bubble of happiness. Just five more minutes, Grace thought.

"It has been a long time since I...you know...it was the first time as a vampire for me. I knew that it would be different, because of the heightened senses and all. But I couldn't have imagined that it would be that intense."

When she thought about last night, she felt that fire come up inside her again. She instinctively pressed her legs together and turned her head to kiss Elijah. He must feel the same, but still his lips were gentle. Sighing, he pulled back a while later.

"Unfortunately, we have some work to do before we can...enjoy ourselves again."

Grace nodded and Elijah helped her to her feet. Together they walked back inside the house where he excused himself to get dressed. Grace also put something casual on and sat down at the kitchen table with her laptop, rolling her eyes when she saw that he really got one of suits on. He raised a brow at her funny look, but Grace just shook her head chuckling.

While Grace did her research, Elijah looked into the fridge, glad that he bought some of the basic things like eggs and milk beforehand. He knew that she wasn't the best cook, so he started to prepare some scrambled eggs. She was doing all of this to help his family, so he could at least make sure she wasn't hungry.

"So that witch you called yesterday said that she couldn't say where your mother is, but some spots close to us where ancestral magic big style was practiced?"

Elijah looked over her shoulder to see her concentrated on the screen of the computer. He thought that this was a dead end, but she seemed to have noticed something. Witches weren't the most reliable source these days, but so far they hadn't got anything else.

"Yes."

The Original said while again focusing on the pan in front of him.

"There are four spots. One is Mystic Falls, which we can cross out. Leaves us three. We could just check up on all of them, which we'll probably have to do. But there's one of these places that experienced strange weather changes, unusual storms. Could that be connected to the magic? I mean, we could check that out first."

Nodding, Elijah remembered why he was so fascinated of her in the first place. She was passionate, maybe a little stubborn, which always made her accurate with her work. It was the exact same thing here. This was probably something he, or his lackeys, would've missed.

He placed the plate of food in front of her, before he took a seat himself. The oldest Gilbert took a bite of the scrambled eggs and enjoyed the taste very much. This was a real hidden talent in him. She would love to try many more of such meals.

"This is amazing, thank you...Well, we're supposed to go on a little witch hunt, aren't we?"

That dark smile appeared on her face again and Elijah couldn't help but return it. Grace was a woman of many facets. Elijah was amazed by the thought to discover the sides of herself she hadn't really explored yet together with him. Even if it was by torturing their way to his mother.


	38. Chapter 38

It took them less than half a day to find out the habits of the witch they were about to haunt. Unfortunately, it wasn't Esther herself, but this reeked so much of Elijah's mother, that they were sure that they should investigate more deeply. By that they meant torture some answers out of the male witch.

Grace felt that felt that dark side of her, the cold, sarcastic, ruthless being inside her creep up and her veins filled with adrenaline by the thought that it would come to action soon. It was sick, but this was also an opportunity to improve her mind compulsion skills. The torturing part was something Grace was pretty familiar with. She learnt a lot from Klaus when they hunted down the werewolves. In the beginning she was disgusted by it, but over time she learnt that it was inevitable if you were a vampire - especially a vampire that was strongly connected to the Mikaelsons.

Of course she knew that Elijah was no stranger to violence. Another thing that changed rapidly since she became a vampire. She was ok with it, she was no better than him. Her morals shifted a lot, but she probably should burn herself in the sun if she couldn't bear it. Being a vampire had something elegant, but to be honest, they probably the most violent bunch that walked the earth.

It was another small town, similar to Mystic Falls. Grace followed after a young woman that carried heavy grocery bags. Elijah stayed in the shadows, his whole appearance would gain too much attention. What Grace had also learnt was that in the supernatural world nearly everyone knew the Originals. Their attractive faces stuck into a lot of peoples heads. It gave Grace the advantage that she hadn't sticked along with them long enough for anyone to remember her appearance. So she could still play the spy.

"Excuse me?"

The vampire put on her sweetest smile as she approached her target. She was the witches' girlfriend, human, the perfect leverage.

Turning around, the young woman looked at Grace, but with a friendly expression.

"Can I help you?"

Grace pulled her jacket tighter around her slim body to look more human acting. It was pretty cold today, so it was a normal reaction to freeze.

"Oh yes. I think I got lost. Can you show me where the grocery store is?"

She glanced down to the girls' bags, indicated that it was why she approached her. Grace pulled out a town's map and held out in front of her. The woman leaned over it and it gave Grace time to check if she was in the right spot. They were in front of an abandoned store which had a dark backyard in it. Then she noticed Elijah from the corner of her eye. He nodded shortly before he disappeared.

Quickly she checked her surroundings. It was shortly after lunch time, not many people were around. Right now they were the only ones in the street. Perfect.

"Here it is. It's not far. I would walk you there, but those bags are so heavy and I need to prepare dinner. Are you new here?"

Her smile turned from sweet and innocent to dark and predatory.

"I won't be around for long."

She said cooly and before the young woman could look up in wonder because of her sudden change of attitude, Grace had grabbed her, covered her mouth with her hand and vamp speeded to the backyard where Elijah was already waiting for her.

Grace pressed her into the brick wall and she leaned forward to sniff out her neck. It took her a while and the girl struggled against her grip, but it didn't bother Grace. Elijah thankfully gave her the time she needed to get her senses in line.

"No vervain. What a fool."

She was about the compel the girl when something strange happened. Before Grace could even say something, she felt the compulsion work. The girl's pupils dilated and she started mumbling against her palm in a dazed tone and relaxed.

"I will be quiet."

Because it was just the second or third time Grace ever really compelled someone, she didn't even notice that it was something unusual. Letting go of the girl, she concentrated again on what she wanted her to do and immediately, she continued to speak.

"I will say nothing and do whatever you say, even if my boyfriend tells me otherwise."

With a satisfied smirk, she turned around to Elijah how looked at her with a frown. It wasn't worry, more curiosity.

"What?"

She pulled up a brow.

"I've never seen this before with such a young vampire as you are."

It confused Grace even more and she looked at him in question.

"Haven't you noticed that you didn't even say something to compel her? You just pushed your thoughts into her mind."

Shrugging, she looked over her shoulder to their hostage. She was staring to the ground, but was calm, as she told her to. Of course she noticed that she compelled her by simply thinking intensely about what she wanted her to do, but she thought all vampires did this.

"Is that something special?"

Elijah chuckled, still a little bit surprised looking. He stepped forward and cupped her cheek with his hand.

"Yes, Grace, it is. I can do this, too, but I'm an Original. You seem to have a talent with mind control."

Grace couldn't help but feel a bit flattered. She never had been really good or talented about something. To be honest she was surprised herself. Some weeks ago, she thought that she would never learn compulsion. But now, with Elijah teaching her, the block in her head had melted and she felt like she could learn anything.

"What a surprise. I'm actually good at something."

She said ironically and a loving smile spread on Elijah's face as he caressed her cheekbone with his thumb.

"You are special, Grace. I'm not surprised. But you never cease to impress me."

Elijah stood on the porch of the small house, one hand casually buried in his pocket, with the other he knocked. He radiated off power and self confidence and Grace found it hard to advert her gaze and step back into hiding with the witches' girlfriend.

"Good afternoon."

The Original said calmly. Then there was silence and it was clear that the witch knew who Elijah was. Judging by his racing heartbeat and hitching breath he was frightened. Rightfully so. But he seem to keep himself together well, but his body was giving him away.

"What do you want, vampire?"

A light smile crossed Elijah's face as the man spat the expression of his race as an insult, but it didn't reach his eyes. Elijah in this state was a force to be reckoned with. He was unpredictable with his neat suit and the way he moved so calmly and elegantly. Nothing suggested that there was a monster under this facade, just his eyes told the true story. They were dark, hard and cold. He could rip someone to shreds in a split second.

"Nothing too exhausting. I want information and maybe a locator spell if we come to the right terms."

Just a little twitch in the witches' face gave him away. They were at the right place. Esther had been here.

"Go somewhere else. I don't meddle in vampire business."

He shut the door right in Elijah's face who of course couldn't enter. That guy made a grave mistake. Violence was in play now.

Together with the girl named Keira, Grace walked over to Elijah. She made the young woman say the man's name and the vampires could literally hear his heart skip a beat.

To their satisfaction, he opened the door again, hatred and fear written all over his face. He cared for her. Good.

"Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

The cold smile was back on Elijah's face and he patted Keira's shoulder.

"I would be careful, Mr. Baker. If I see even the slightest hint of magic, I won't hesitate to kill your beloved. How about you invite us in first?"

Again there was silence and Grace gripped the girls' throat tighter to which she desperately gasped for air. The man growled and wanted to step out of the door to stop Grace, but he then remembered that he would risk killing himself and Keira.

"Come in."

He said through clenched teeth and Grace loosened her grip before she and Elijah stepped through the door.

"Thank you very much."

Elijah spoke charmingly. There was one thing Grace noticed. Even though they had threatened to kill his girlfriend, by now he could've done dozens of spells to at least take Grace out. Bonnie would've done it. This guy probably wasn't as strong.

Grace told Keira to stand in front of the open plan kitchen. Afterwards, she tied the witch, Jason, if she remembered right to a chair. Elijah stepped a bit back to leave the show to her. Now that maniac smile that still looked dashingly beautiful on her completely came through.

The Original couldn't help but admire how smoothly she could change from sweet and loving to ruthless. He loved that side of her, too. It filled him with excitement to watch her, not that he would show it.

"Hi, Jason. I'm Grace. Shall we start?"

Slowly, she stepped around the stool. The sound of her heels clacking on the wooden floor underlined the atmosphere. There was a similarity to Elijah, but in a whole different way. No one would expect that degree of cruelty in such an angelic person like Grace was, too. People always had made the mistake to underestimate her.

When she was behind him, she suddenly leaned down and her fangs came to surface. The black veins under her face pulsated, but she was stopped by Elijah's fingers under her chin before she could pierce his skin.

"Not now, darling."

There was an amused sparkle in his eyes. He played along well, which made her smile. She never had the intention to drink from him yet, but the first step was establish fear.

"You see, Jason, he's the good cop. I'm the very, very bad one."

She whispered in his ear.

"Easy question first. Have you seen a thousand year old witch who looks like she's in her late forties? Does it ring a bell? Anything?"

Grace started to walk around the room and opened a drawer in the kitchen. She pulled out a massive kitchen knife and inspected the blade. She carefully sliced into her index finger and watched the wound heal.

"I don't know anything. For years I've been living in peace here, I have nothing to do with whoever you're talking about."

Rolling her eyes, she sped in front of him and lifted his chin with the knife.

"I hate lies. Come on, Jason, don't play with my patience. I have a really short temper, you know...I tend to slit throats when people annoy me."

He tried to advert his gaze, but said nothing. The vampire sighed.

"You say 'for years'. Let me make a guess. You were in a coven before you started a life without magic in this little cozy house. Seems you were pretty important, Esther wouldn't have come to you otherwise."

Sweat prickled on his forehead. Silence, again. Grace started to get bored and figured that threats were the only working thing here. She cut through the pale skin of her wrist until it drew blood and used the element of surprise to press it to his mouth. She pinched his nose to force him to swallow the red liquid. Smiling satisfied when he drank, she leaned back again.

But she wasn't done yet. Jason knew what could await him now. She could turn him into the thing he hated most now. Again she strolled over to the kitchen and opened the glass door of the oven. She turned all small wheels to make gas escape into the room.

"I'm pretty much of a newbie vampire. You know what I'm curious about? Now that I've fed you and little Keira my blood..."

Jason gasped for air when he heard that fact.

"...if Elijah here takes off his ring and the sunlight will burn his skin and this house will go kaboom, it wouldn't hurt him. But would you turn into ash or will you stay in one piece and come back as a vampire in transition? Maybe we should test my theory."

She shrugged and Elijah couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"You're a goddamn maniac!"

The hostage shouted and Grace was about to slap him across his face, but he continued to speak before she could.

"Esther was here some days ago, trying to find sources to channel. But I had nothing to offer, because my coven abandoned me. I send her to them. It's in a village north Richmond."

She finally out together all the pieces. He didn't do any magic because he had none. Grace didn't know much about witches, but she had learnt that some, like Esther, were bound to their ancestors. With the shunning from his coven, he must've lost it all.

"Well, well. What a good, faithful boy. Trying so hard to protect his girl. But what will we do with you know? Usually it says, kill all the witnesses, but I think there's something much more clever. I'll let you live."

Again she leaned closer to his face and stared directly into his eyes.

"But with the fear that I can always find you if you even dare to say a word to anyone."

With that, she threw the knife and it directly landed in the middle of Keira's stomach. Jason screamed and tried to get free, but it only worked until Grace ripped one rope from his wirst so he could free himself. The wound wouldn't kill the girl, but it would keep them busy for some time. Enough time for Grace and Elijah to disappear.

Some hours later, they arrived at the hotel they chose for the night. It was surprisingly pretty with a romantic, vintage flair, but still it was of the smaller kind . Of course Elijah took the most expensive suite the boutique hotel had to offer. Flying under the radar looked quite different, but it actually made no sense to hide. Esther probably knew where they were anywhere. They just had to keep catching up.

The room had a good size and was held in warm colors. The bathroom kept the vintage style and had a free standing bathtub, which Grace adored. She would note the address of the hotel, to maybe come back here later for a little holiday.

When she turned up the faucet, she felt Elijah's presence behind her. His hands loosely fell to her hips and heat ran through her body when his lips started kissing her neck. At least she now knew that she didn't scare him off with her torturing self.

Looking forward to enjoy a bath with him, she leaned her back onto him and closed her eyes.

When her phone started buzzing in her pocket she groaned and Elijah sighed, but took a step back. Grace rolled her eyes when she saw that it was Klaus.

"Damn it, Nik! You..."

But he didn't let her bring out a row of insults.

"They killed Finn."

Grace froze in motion and she heard Elijah stop breathing for a second. He heard it. He just heard through the speaker that his brother died.

"What I...I thought Rebekah burned down the last remaining white oak."

With wide eyes, she turned around and met Elijah's gaze. He was in shock, still processing. Even tough no one could stand Finn, he was still his brother.

"Bonnie Bennett unlinked us. A second later and we all..."

He paused.

"...Grace, I don't know where they got this stake. But I'm sure they have more. I'll personally rip through the Salvatore's insides to get them."

Klaus voice turned into a growl. He needed his friend urgently, too, it was obvious. Sometimes she was the only one that could calm him.

"Nik, I'm so, so sorry. Elijah and I will come and help."

"No, Grace! No, you two need to stay away. There's more to it."

A frown plastered on both Elijah's and Grace's face. What could that be?

"An hour after Finn died, Sage, his lover, and another fool she sired died. It's the bloodline, Grace. The entire line dies if the sire falls. We need to stay divided until we've burnt all the stakes."

This was certainly a game changer. Her brain was already way too overloaded, but this was another shock to take in. Klaus and Grace ended the call. There was nothing but silence afterwards. They stared at each other and Grace started to see emotions come to surface in Elijah's eye. Rage, grief, worry, sadness, hate and so many else the young woman couldn't even name.

She broke the state of numbness by walking over to Elijah and simply pulling him into a deep, comforting embrace. His hands shook when he wrapped his arms around her. Grace held him close and squeezed his neck lightly to show him that she was there for him. He just lost his brother. After a thousand years.

But the other revelation would influence their future immensely. Grace was definitely Klaus' sireling. Probably no one really knew who sired the line of the Salvatores which would lead to Caroline and Abby Bennett. But it wasn't important. Anger seemed to be her constant company when it came to this group of hypocrites. They attacked Finn because they thought he was still linked with the others. It was an attempt to the Mikaelson's lives and her sister surely again played along with it. To her, it wasn't important who sired their line. She couldn't loose any of her new family. Still their hatred for Klaus ran that deep that they wouldn't stop trying.

As she drove her hands through Elijah's hair, a question came up inside her. If Klaus wasn't their sire...would their hatred for the hybrid ran deep enough to kill Grace willingly with him?

Happy New Year everyone!


	39. Chapter 39

The next day continued to add to the devastating mood of yesterday. Elijah was silent for most of the time, so deep in thought that it took him long to even notice when she was saying his name. His knuckles stood out white because he grabbed the stirring wheel too tightly. She even feared that he would eventually break it.

When they arrived at the place were Jason said the witches were practicing their rituals, a horrible sight unfolded in front of them. They were all slaughtered, flies were covering the bodies. Slit throats, totally Esther's style. Grace and Elijah burned the corpses to cover up the mess before they returned to the hotel, realizing that they hadn't got any leads anymore and that Esther was probably walking around, juiced up with magic. On her way to find something that could kill her children. How long until she would find out that there were still white oak stakes left? Klaus and Rebekah needed to hurry to get them from the Salvatores.

After they got back inside, Elijah immediately grabbed her and kissed her like he was starving for her. Elijah desperately needed to forget and Grace was simply there for him. They spent the afternoon indulging in their lust for each other, but this time it was more rough, a means to release all that build up frustration.

Later one they together laid in the bathtub, the warm water embracing their bodies comfortingly. Still, Grace's mind couldn't stop spinning as she was worried about Elijah's silence. At least he made some sounds when they had sex. Sighing, she closed her eyes and laid her head back on his chest. His arm held her by her waist and she could feel his breath on her scalp, but still it felt like he was miles away. Surprisingly she felt so comfortable with him, both of them naked in this bathtub, she always have had a problem with being nude around men, but her head was occupied with trying to find words. She couldn't talk to him about what happened. He needed time to process.

"When Damon compelled me when I was still human, it didn't work properly. Snippets of memory came back to me. It was pretty tough, gave me quite the headache, but it led me to undagger you then. To you think it is related to my 'talent'?"

Elijah pushed her wet hair over her shoulder and drew abstract circles onto the sensitive skin over her collarbone. She already noticed that he was a quick learner to what she enjoyed.

"Yes, it could be. Humans can learn to resist compulsion. But it's a process that can take decades and I've never seen anyone resistant the compulsion of an Original. Vampires like Damon use a sloppy technique...still, you had no clue what was happening to you, which makes it quite special that you could gain your memories back...Do you take vervain?"

Frowning, she turned around so she could look at him. At the side she was happy that he was speaking again. She seemed to have found the right topic. Elijah seemed to be curious about it himself.

"No, why would I? Burns like a bitch and I hope that none of you will ever try to compel me."

She started to place small kisses on his chest, but Elijah placed a finger under her chin to lift it up and he stared her in the eyes.

"Grace, why don't you get some champagne for us?"

His pupils dilated and Grace felt a kind of tug in her brain, but it didn't cloud her mind like compulsion should. She lifted a brow.

"Why don't you get it yourself?"

He chuckled and pulled her to her for a long kiss. It strangely relieved him that she could resist and Original's compulsion. Not that he was afraid that his siblings would dare and try, but one could never be safe enough. It was another part of protecting her from the evils and darkness of his family.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to test a theory."

Elijah's arms wrapped around her and he relaxed a bit. She always found ways to calm him, it was magnificent. Of course he grieved for his brother, but his greater concern were the living. It upset him that Grace was bound to his brother's life. He couldn't bear loosing Klaus, but he would loose any sense in life if he lost Grace with him. In that short time she had become such an important part of his eternal existence, he couldn't even imagine a future without her anymore.

"I really hope that the Salvatores are sired by Niklaus. At least that would mean that they won't try to kill him."

The brothers were reckless, Elijah knew that. They wouldn't stop their revenge towards Klaus, even if it meant that Elena's sister would go down with him. Elijah couldn't have that. He would protect his family and Grace with his life, but right now, he couldn't make sure that his brother was safe.

Grace lifted her head and looked at him worriedly.

"Yeah, which would mean that you're open for the hunt. I bet you have enough enemies that would love to drive a stake through your heart."

Sighing, he cupped her cheek with his hand. She was so beautiful. He had to admit that he took a liking into her that exposed and vulnerable in front of him. She trusted him, she showed that by letting go of any shyness towards him.

"I know I didn't sire them, Grace. I made it my duty to know which vampires I sired."

"Well, let's hope that the Salvatores won't find that out soon."

She stole another short kiss before she stood up and got out of the water. He waited until she was wrapped in her bathrobe before he followed her.

Grace was about to boil some water for tea when her phone started ringing. She expected it to be Klaus, filling her up on new developments in Mystic Falls, but when she saw it wasn't him, but another person she was very close to, she was surprised.

"Jer?"

Immediately she was worried. He hadn't called since Damon compelled him to leave. Maybe it was because of the part to not look back to his old life in Mystic Falls.

"Yo, stranger, how are you doin'?"

Letting out a relieved sigh, she glanced over her shoulder to Elijah, who nodded when he saw that she was ok. Gently, he pushed her away to take over making tea.

"Um, I'm fine. How are the art classes going?"

Slowly, a smile spread on her face. She then realized how much she missed her little brother. But Denver or Mystic Falls, compelled or not, it probably would always be like that from now on if Grace wanted to protect him. The youngest Gilbert was an easy, wanted target, as he was a loved one of the doppelgänger and also very close to someone that meant a lot to the Mikaelsons. Living with them had a certain degree of danger, but it could take even wider circles when the families' enemies would find out about the newest addition to the inner circle.

"They're pretty good. Did a lot of progress here. The people here are cool...Are you at home?"

At least he seemed happy. Of course it wasn't ok to take his free will from him, but there was nothing Grace could do about it, so she could grant him that little amount of peace. A proper life for a teenager.

"No, I'm somewhere near Richmond...with Elijah."

Grace hadn't told him yet that she was together with the now oldest Mikaelson brother. She was a little shocked when she heard her little brother chuckle.

"Early honeymoon? Would've chosen a different place for vacation."

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"How...How do you know?"

Jeremy's chuckle turned into laughter and Grace couldn't help but loosen up a bit. His reaction was way more humorous than Elena's.

"Gracie, please, I knew even before you became a vampire. Remember you told me Bonnie and I were obvious? You two were, too."

Her shoulders sunk down in relief and she released her held in breath. He took it easy. It made her wonder even more why Elena simply couldn't accept it. That the sisters split in argument and that she had moved out of their home was another thing she should Jeremy.

"So...you're ok with it?"

Grace's gaze melted into a kind of doe eyes, that Elijah saw for the first time in months. The deep insecurity in her had been more prominent when she was human, but now that she talked with her brother, she probably felt closest to her humanity.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? Ok, his brother is a dick, but it's your choice."

The young vampire chuckled, but it mixed with a little sob which made her sound like she choked on something. She needed to hold back tears harshly. At least her little brother was still the person she grew up with. That poor boy had to see his sisters change that immensely right in front of them. One actually died and came back undead, the other had a bunch of vampires at her feet and called them friends. There was nothing he could do about it.

"Thank you, Jer."

"No problem, Gracie...Um, can I call you again later? A friend of mine is coming."

Grace wanted to say yes, when she suddenly heard a voice through the speaker from a bit farer away.

"Hey, mate, up for a match?"

Elijah immediately turned around, his eyes fixated on Grace's as he too noticed the voice. He knew it. Of course he did, it was his brother's. Kol. Why was he near Jeremy Gilbert? That wouldn't end well.

"Bye, Gracie."

He little brother ended the call and Grace's hand sunk to her side. Elijah and her stared at each other in shock for a moment, before fury took her over.

"I'm going to kill both your brothers."

The Original looked away, his lip curling upwards in anger. He thought it was clear to Niklaus that Grace's family was an untouchable subject. Didn't he even think about the consequences if something happened to her little brother? They would loose Grace for good.

"Elijah, I need to get him out of there. Kol's a maniac, I don't think anyone can assure me that he won't kill my brother if he gets bored."

She started to get hysterical and paced up and down the room. Elijah looked at her for a while, before he stepped in front of her and cupped her face with his hands.

"You're right. We can pick him up and I'll teach Kol some manners."

Sighing, she shook her head and took his hands in hers.

"No, I need to go alone. I'll need to bring him back to Mystic Falls, Elijah. Both you and Kol need to stay out of there and you need to keep looking for signs of your mother."

Now it was him to shake his head. He frowned, looking at his love with worry.

"I don't trust Kol. I would never forgive him or myself if he hurt you."

She lightly chuckled and leaned her head on his shoulder after she wrapped her arms around him. The thought of being apart from him again was tormenting.

"He wouldn't hurt me, he's not that stupid. He knows he would have you, Klaus and Beks on his heels of he even tried to. And, adding to that, I know how to handle him."

Elijah immediately believed that. Her personality was that strong, she never would be pushed around and she was never afraid to confront idiots like Kol. Still, it didn't really calm him. Maybe he was just afraid that in those dangerous times, he wouldn't see her again. He pushed that thought away quickly. It wasn't an option.

"I'll come back when I know Jeremy's alright."

He nodded. Of course he understood her. Like himself, she had a strong consciousness about how important family was, even when it tried to block her out. Elijah had witnessed this a thousand times, whenever Niklaus felt like going on a downward spiral again. He didn't want Grace to live through her family breaking apart. It unfortunately already had started with her and Elena's continuing arguments, but until the doppelgänger changed her mind and accept her sister's relationship to him, there was only her bond to Jeremy she could keep stable. There would be trouble when Jeremy would notice how deep her loyalty to the Mikaelsons ran, but Elijah begged for the teenager to not abandon her, too. It would be too much for Grace to take.

Pulling her close, Elijah kissed her forehead. He knew that he would have to let her go, that they couldn't live in their bubble of intimate happiness, apart from reality, forever, but Elijah's instincts told him that they wouldn't see each other for some time.

He really gave her the keys to the Porsche. Elijah wasn't a man of status symbols and even if money, cars and property didn't mean much to him, it of course would've been easier if he kept his car and Grace compelled herself one. But he did it anyway, so she could get to her brother as soon as possible.

Grace drove through the night, only stopped to feed and reached Denver in the morning. Until then, she had called Klaus a dozen times and left multiple threats that included very creative torturing methods on his voicemail. He should quake in fear by now.

She memorized the address of the families' friends where Jeremy stayed. Grace hadn't seen these people often. The last time they visited, she had been 12.

When she stopped the car in front of the house, she faced one big disadvantage. How suspicious could these people get if Grace couldn't enter their house? This having to be invited in thing was annoying. She needed to be quick to compel them.

Sighing, she climbed up the porch, her heels clicking on the old woods. Seconds after she rang the bell, she heard the steps and the heartbeat of someone approach. A woman in her early fifties opened the door and looked at Grace, examining her face closely. She didn't say anything as a frown rushed over her face, seeing that the young woman on her doorstep looked familiar. Then she suddenly clapped her hands and a wide smile spread on her lips.

"Grace Gilbert! What a surprise! You are looking for your brother, aren't you?"

The woman stepped aside, obviously implying that she could come in? Nervously, Grace shifted her weight from one foot to the other, but her face stayed emotionless. Why couldn't she simply be polite and invite her in?

"Yes, I am. Is he here?"

She looked a bit confused to why Grace still stood on the porch, but just shrugged.

"No, he's out at the baseball practice. Do you want to come in and wait for him here? I'm just preparing lunch."

A slight smile rushed over Grace's features. That woman probably made the greatest mistake of her life. But of course, until now Grace wouldn't mean harm to her.

"Yes, I would love to."

She stepped inside and took a quick look around. From the kitchen she could smell chicken and herbs, so she was telling the truth. There seemed to be no other heartbeat in here, but Grace needed to be sure. Grabbing the woman by her chin, she stared into her eyes and saw her pupils dilate.

"I'm alone. My husband is working."

Grace nodded.

"Very good. Where exactly is Jeremy?"

She continued to speak, because she pathetically felt weird when she did that mind control thing just with asking question through her mind.

"It's near the school. Just follow the street and at the end turn right."

"Jeremy will come back later and pick up his things. He'll go back to his home and you won't worry about him, he simply finished his art class. You'll never think of him again. Oh and, you'll forget that I was here."

The woman repeated her words and Grace stepped outside again, satisfied with her work. Quickly she got into the car and followed the directions. She found the school shortly after only to be annoyed by the facts that there were still kids out here. When she got out of her massive car, she could've slapped herself that she didn't park it farther away. The pupils stared at the hot woman that definitely not one of their teachers. Of course she didn't have time to compel them all, so she had to live with the fact that she gained some attention. She was tempted to show them her fangs, just to scare them away and have good laughter, but she pushed the thought away quickly.

Luckily, the baseball practice seemed to be nearly empty. She wanted to storm right into it and grab her brother, but she froze on spot and jumped behind a wall into hiding when she heard familiar voices.

Damon and Elena were there. They were talking to Jeremy. Did they have the same agenda as Grace? Maybe they too found out that Klaus knew where Jeremy was. Not that it bothered Grace too much that Nik knew, she was more worried about the fact that he had to send his most maniacal brother after Jeremy. Kol was unpredictable, Nik was aware of that.

Just as the youngest living Mikaelson brother crossed Grace's thoughts, he made his entrance. With a baseball bat on his shoulder and a creepy grin spread on his face, he casually walked towards the trio. Grace had to admit that it looked pretty bad ass.

The first thing he did was hitting Damon hard with the bat over his head. Well, the Salvatore deserved it, but this went south quicker than Grace had imagined. She rolled her eyes before she gave up her hiding place.

Using the element of surprise, she suddenly pressed the Original into the fence that surrounded the baseball fields hard, her arm over his throat, before he could smash Damon's head into pieces.

She felt the shocked gazes of Damon, Elena and Jeremy on her. They all whispered her name in surprise. At least they didn't know she was coming.

Kol just stared amused at her. Grace couldn't help but notice how similar he and Elijah looked, but their personalities couldn't be more different. Behind his dark brown eyes she could see pure rage because she interrupted him. Still, he didn't dare touching her. He stood still, leaning against the fence even tough he could've pushed her away easily.

"Nice to see you again, Gracie."

She wouldn't fall for that sweet smile. He would rip her to shreds if she pushed him too far.

"Leave my brother out of this, Kol."

His gaze grew predatory, but Grace surprised him by staring back with the same maniacal look he mastered so easily. She surely was a wild thing.

"Or what?"

"I'm saying it nicely now. Just be aware that I could make your life quite miserable without even asking your brothers to help me. Which they would without hesitation."

The trio watched the Original and the brunette with wide eyes. It was fascinating how much power Grace had over the Originals. Kol would have already ripped her heart out for her intruding, but even the most reckless of the Mikaelsons knew that he would end up dead or in a box if he killed that girl.

"Should I be afraid of you now, little girl? Hiding behind her boyfriend like a coward?"

She smirked.

"Do you see Elijah anywhere? But you know what, you're right. I need your brothers in order to truly hurt you? But do you know the advantage of being friends with Nik? A nearly endless supply of daggers that can make you shut up. So, Kol, I warn you one last time, leave my brother out of this."

Grace awaited another snarky reply, but before he could even open his mouth, Damon drove the splintered end of a baseball bat through Kol's heart from behind. He fell to his knees and his skin turned grey. Of course he wouldn't be out for long. She covered her face with her hand and shook her head in disbelief of Damon Salvatore's stupidity. Now he lit Kol's temper.

"You have a death wish, don't you?"

She looked at Damon and knelt down beside Kol. If she removed the woods, which she would when the others finally disappeared, he would be back within the next ten minutes.

"Do you really think he would let us go? You want to see your siblings dead?"

The younger vampire groaned. Again with these accusations. She cared for her family, way more than it was good for her.

"Yes, he actually would've left, because he knows that Klaus would dagger him if I ask him to."

It was without doubt. She would never claim that she had control over them, that was something she never wanted, but she had their loyalty, which was a value Damon, Stefan and Elena would never truly understand.

She ignored Damon's muttering and went straight for Jeremy, hugging him tightly. Her little brother seemed surprised, but he immediately returned it. Grace didn't spare a glance at Elena.

They needed to go fast, so she had only some seconds to explain something to her little brother.

"We don't have time, you need to leave before Kol wakes up. Jer, I just want you to know that I don't live at home anymore. Hear Elena's side of things. She probably will see it quite differently."

A short glare was adverted towards her sister.

"I will always be there for you. Even tough everyone thinks I'm a traitor, all I want is for us to live in peace. With the people we choose to spend our lifetime with, however long it'll be. Just give me a call and I'll vamp speed."

The siblings chuckled and she kissed Jeremy on the cheek. She squeezed his shoulders.

"Now go home quickly. I'll see you soon."

Damon and Elena thankfully seemed to get the hint, too, and they finally walked off. Grace sat down on the hard ground beside Kol again and pulled out the makeshift stake. His wounds healed quickly and he was staring to move only a minute later. Damn, those Originals were strong.

Kol hissed and his eyes opened. With bared teeth, he scanned the area and jumped to his feet, surprisingly not lashing out at Grace.

"Do you even know why they were here?"

Growling he picked up a bat again and hit the fence with it to let out some energy, so he wouldn't accidentally smash Grace's head off.

"Yeah, to get my little brother home. Which was my intention, too."

He rolled his eyes at the still sitting vampire. Kol must admit, she had fire and he could get to like her with time, but sometimes she was just overly annoying.

"No, darling, they need your psychic brother to figure out who sired their line so they can choose which of my siblings they can kill first."

Should it bother her that she could imagine that and actually believed Kol. This was such a Salvatore reeking plan, it must be the truth. Again they were using Jeremy just to get their stupid revenge. Why couldn't they simply leave the Originals alone and do not risk the death of all vampires? Everyone had a family and loved ones. Some of course deserved to die, but not everyone. Grace herself wanted to live. She was so close to be fine with her existence as a vampire. She wouldn't let her life be ruined by those brats.

"Seems we have to work together, then."

Kol and Grace stared at each other and the young woman then held out her hand. Grinning devilishly, Kol took it and helped her up.


	40. Chapter 40

"So, who is this Mary person?"

Grace drove the car while Kol sat casually in the passenger seat. They hadn't talked much until this awkward silence drove Grace nuts. She felt uncomfortable with Kol, she didn't really know why. All she knew was that he was an irresponsible brat and kind of the outcast of the family, but usually it was something she could handle. Maybe she simply didn't like him that much.

"She was kind of the groupie when she was human. It was a time where Nik and I got along pretty well. Mary practically jumped between us, sometimes we even shared her. But basically she was food."

Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she spared a glance at Kol. Sometimes they were just so screwed up, it was nearly funny. But living a thousand years could get boring, she had to admit. No wonder that it could let someone drive insane.

"Kinky."

She murmured and kept her eyes on the street. The Original beside her chuckled.

"Don't you think Nik would go straight for your little boobs if you'd let him?"

Her eyes widened and she had to keep herself from hitting the breaks in shock.

"No, he wouldn't. He's my friend and he knows that for it'll always be Elijah. By the way, friendship between men and women is possible."

Shaking her head, she got her shaking hands under control. He surely knew how to push buttons.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

She rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Whatever. Well, what are we going to do when we reach her house? I'm honestly surprised that you know where she is."

Kol gave her that smart ass look.

"Found myself a witch. What we're going to do is kill her. She was sired by Klaus, I know this for sure. We can't have that they find out, or they'll try to kill us all."

Sighing, she came to a halt in front of a diner. They needed to eat something.

"Remind me, why we aren't simply ripping the Salvatores hearts out?"

"Because we still need them, darling."

Unfortunately, it was true. They always had this talent of weakling themselves into the Mikaelson's forced favor because they had information, white oak stakes, or a certain doppelgänger.

"By the way, I could need something stronger than a donut."

He said, looking at the small restaurant dismissing. She chuckled and got out of the car and he followed.

"That's exactly why we're here. Not many people, easy to compel, quick to leave. Just don't kill anyone."

Grace gave him a serious glare, she had no clue yet how much of a maniac he really was.

"As you wish."

He bowed down low playfully to annoy her. Rolling her eyes, she went inside and quickly checked that only five guests, one waitress and probably a cook were here. A perfect situation, just like Elijah and her practiced.

But of course wouldn't bother being careful. Within a minute he had created a bloodbath. A young girl was draped over his lap while he compelled the two men that were in the restaurant to either hold a girl. The waitress was serving him beer with that dazed expression of compulsion. Grace stood by and watched. It had all went so fast. One second she thought she was in charge and could handle the mischievous Original and now blood was slowly dripping from the girl's necks to the floor, driving her hunger insane.

"Come on, Gracie, loosen up. Have a bite."

A smirk was on his face, showing his fangs and his blood smeared lips and chin. She was still frozen in spot, anger boiling over.

"Are you crazy? Do you want to attract attention towards us?"

She hissed as she came face to face with Kol. His eyes glimmered dangerously, but her rage made her fear vanish.

"Maybe a little."

It was definitely an answer to both questions. He bit back into the girls neck and Grace could hear her heartbeat slow. Suddenly, she ripped the girl out of his arms, but she didn't think it through properly. Her blood was so close, still pooling from the bite wounds Kol left. Her breathing got shallow as she tried to fight. Kol appeared beside her cooing and motivating her to simply give into her urges. When his hand touched her back, she growled and shrugged him off. But her inner monster couldn't resist anymore. In the end, they killed four persons this evening Grace pulsated of energy, it took her long to recover from the ecstasy the blood released in her.

Void of emotion she sat in the Porsche, trying to process the guilt that washed over her. She could still taste their blood on her lips. She was filled to the brim and still she knew that the hunger would be back soon. For a moment she thought she could control her bloodlust, but where she took one step forward with Elijah's help, she now took two backwards because of his brother. It wasn't right to blame Kol. She did this on her own. Grace could've resisted. But she didn't and now she had to live with it. Push it to the edge of her mind where her monster was crawling and waiting for more corpses.

She stormed out of the diner and let Kol handle the mess. The young vampire couldn't have thought rationally after what happened.

"I compelled the other guy confess that he killed all of them, the waitress and cook to be witnesses that took him down afterwards. Isn't it brilliant?"

Kol jumped into the driver's seat and said cheerfully. Grace couldn't make out any amusement in it. He ruined the life of the innocent survivor. Another think she had push into the shadows. One day, she swore, it would all come out and end in a massacre, she was sure of it. Maybe she would drive nuts as Kol did or turn her humanity off.

She said nothing, pulled her knees to her chin and closed her eyes until they arrived at the shabby house where this Mary person was living.

"Do me a favor and simply rip her heart out."

With a grim mood, she got out of the car, but before she could take a step forward, she was pinned to the car by Kol. He again hat that this signature devilish grin plastered on his face that was starting to annoy her.

"You have fire, Grace, I saw it in there. Does my brother really has no intention in tempting it a little bit? He's a liar if he claims that he doesn't want to see your dark side, your true self. Believe me, he also is no saint. But I can understand the allure you have. You could develop so well if you just had the right teacher."

His index finger stroked her cheek and she felt nausea dwelling inside her. It wasn't that she didn't find him attractive, all the Mikaelsons were, but his character was just ugly. At first it reminded her of Klaus, but Kol was way deeper down than the hybrid ever was. She wanted to help him, she saw that he could be the better man, but she wasn't responsible for everyone. And right now, Kol went too far.

"I'll tell you what, Kol, if you dare to touch me again, you'll see that fire burning you. I may not be as strong as you, but I'll find my ways to make your life a living hell. And as we're immortal, it'll be a very long time."

Her voice was calm and cold. A tone that would've frightened everyone. Kol had to admit that she was becoming pretty creepy, but of course his arrogant facade would never let it slip through. He bellowed a laugh before he let go of her and stepped inside.

She needed Elijah so much at that moment and she would've loved to call him. But she couldn't just hide behind him whenever there was trouble, Kol was right with that. She was very capable of taking care of her own problems.

Missing the epic reunion of Kol and Mary, she also stepped inside the nearly abandoned looking house. It could be one of this haunted houses from those crappy horror movies. Far away from any civilization, old, messy, but still not completely unoccupied looking.

Of course Kol needed to play with her. The older female vampire didn't even notice the other intruder. It gave time her time to end this quick. She found knives in the kitchen and claimed them to be her new favorite weapon. Catching Kol's gaze over Mary's shoulder, she held the knife and suddenly threw it. Before the vampire could even notice it, the sharp blade stuck in the back of her head and she fell to the ground.

"You're such a bore, Gracie."

The Original shook his head before leaning down and simply extracting the woman's heart from her chest.

"Now we wait for Damon to arrive and make the big surprise?"

Grace let herself fall into one of the old armchairs. Kol joined her shortly after.

"Yeah. That boy still has a lesson to learn."

While he spoke, he played with the bat he brought with him. Was this kind of a developing fetish? Grace smiled amused at that thought.

"He's all yours. Just remember, you can't kill him yet."

He didn't answer, but Grace knew that he got it. Strangely, Kol seemed to be afraid of Klaus and he knew that he would end up back in a box if he ruined his plan. Very dysfunctional.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long until a car pulled up. Grace and Kol shared a glance while they listened to the bickering outside, then they heard two pairs of footsteps approaching. Of course Damon was stupid enough to take Elena with him. Did he wanted her to die, too?

They entered and flashlights painted new shadows to the wall. The two vampires that were here first stayed silent and didn't move a bit.

A gasp was being from Elena's mouth was being heard when they found the corpse of Mary. Damon cursed under his breath.

"Good old Mary...that brings memories back. Gracie, help me remember. What did I tell you earlier? Klaus turned her, didn't he? Oh, or was it me? Let's not forget she also took a liking into your boyfriend. Rebekah was once her bestie...Honestly, I can't remember who turned her."

Kol's voice was dripping of sarcasm. Grace played along and shrugged.

"I don't know, too. Elijah mentioned something that there was a time he turned quite a lot of people into vampires. Pretty unusual for him, isn't it?"

She stood up and strolled towards the duo in front of her. Her eyes didn't leave Elena's as she played with the knife in her hands.

"But wouldn't it be nice for you if it was Elijah? Not to mention that he's the most handsome of the Mikaelsons in my opinion, no pun intended, Kol, which would obviously makes him a keeper for this world, he's the one you hate the least, isn't he? Rebekah would like to scratch your eyes out at any moment you cross path with her, Elena. Kol's a maniac, that I can assure you..."

She quickly glanced over her shoulder and winked at him.

"Well and Nik...his your greatest enemy of all time. After all he did, he probably deserves to die. Oh and, by the way, with killing him, you would get rid of me, too! Would come in quite handy, now that I'm on your blacklist, too. It would also end my relationship with Elijah you all so hate. Wouldn't that be amazing? Elena, then there's another man you can weasel your way into his pants! You know, he does that thing..."

"Grace!"

Elena suddenly yelled to end her sister's taunting. But she only laughed and shook her head. Then, abruptly, without anyone even imagining her intention, she stabbed her knife into Damon's stomach hard. Grace knew that she hurt her sister more than Damon with it.

"That's for trying to kill my family."

She leaned forward and whispered into Damon's ear. Then, she grabbed Elena's arm harshly.

"He's all yours."

The young vampire ended her show with nodding towards Kol who raised his bat smiling. She dragged her sister out of the house. Thankfully Elena was so speechless, she didn't say a word. Like she was a little misbehaving child, Grace opened the cars door and pushed her inside. Jeremy sat in the back, staring at his sisters unbelievingly.

"I'll see you back home."

With one last predatory smile, she disappeared.

It was then when she realized that she couldn't go back to Elijah yet.

She was needed in Mystic Falls. Grace had to keep an eye on Jeremy. Nik and Rebekah needed her. Adding to that, she had the lingering feeling that Esther would focus on the town again.

But even tough she knew that Elijah adored every part of her, the darkest of her, too, she was afraid to face him with all the guilt weighing on her. She wanted to be carefree with him, but she couldn't when she knew that she willingly slaughtered four innocents tonight.

While Kol had his fun breaking some of Damons bones, the second round of torture for the Salvatore in the last few days as she heard, she took her time to call Elijah.

Of course he was so understanding. She told him what happened tonight. All of it. Still he wasn't angry with her loosing control. He didn't tell her that she was a monster. Instead, he comforted her, told her that she wasn't to blame. Elijah even confessed that he have had much worse outbreaks of bloodlust than hers. But he was so wrong.

She was a monster. And she liked it. Even tough no one would expect it of her, even tough she had all reason to hate being a vampire, she loved it. Sometimes it felt like she was born to be a bloodsucker.

"Well, well, now that we have finished our mission, Gracie, now comes the epic goodbye?"

Kol's voice sounded from behind her and she quickly turned around. His shirt had some blood stains more.

"I'm going back to Mystic Falls. If you want, I can drop you off somewhere on the way."

Leaning against the car, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"No, I think I'll enjoy some time without my wretched bunch of siblings. I've heard Las Vegas became pretty enjoyable in the past few decades."

She chuckled.

"Would fit your character. Greet Elvis' undead spirit."

Kol raised a brow in a confused manner.

"Who's Elvis?"

Now Grace had to laugh. This guy really had enraged the hell out of her for the whole time and yet here he stood with puppy eyes, a heartbreaker that was about to explore the world.

"You'll find out. Enjoy your time catching up on all you've missed."

In that moment, Grace couldn't help but feel sympathy for the Original. Because of Nik, he missed so much time. What meant eternity if he always had to fear that huge amounts of time could be easily taken away from him? How must it feel to wake up in a completely different era?

Shortly, he thoughts wandered off to Finn. He spent 900 years in that box only to get a short glimpse on the 21st century before he died. But it was probably what he wanted.

"Do we have to awkwardly hug and pretend that we like each other from now on?"

Kol said, while directing one last glance at her. They both laughed loudly.

"Nah."

It was the first thing they agreed on tonight.


	41. Chapter 41

Grace hadn't really been alone in weeks. Since Elijah was back, most of the time she had spent with him, even at nighttime, or with Klaus. The drive back from Denver to Mystic Falls brought way too much space to think. She tried to push it all away to concentrate of the tasks ahead, but she couldn't help but feel all that fear, paranoia and self loathing for the things she had done creep up inside her.

Talking to Elijah would've helped. He would've told her that it would all be ok, that he would protect her and his family and of course let her feel like she was the most precious being on this earth. But it was so complicated. Grace wanted to be selfish. She wanted to turn the car around and just stay far away from the drama and danger of Mystic Falls.

Elijah could take care of himself. Grace's siblings couldn't. Klaus and Rebekah needed her. So she took a page from the noble Original's playbook and was selfless.

It was already morning when she arrived in town. She was in desperate need of sleep, as she hadn't really closed her eyes in two days. Fortunately lack of sleep couldn't kill her anymore, but it still made her feel miserable.

Stepping inside the Mikaelson mansion, she listened in to a conversation between Klaus and Rebekah. They were talking about a school dance. Didn't they have the murdering of their mother to plan? She rolled her eyes as she approached them.

"Aren't you a bit old to attend a school dance, Nik?"

A grin spread on the hybrid's face when he noticed his friend. He was happy to see her hear, even if he knew that Grace and his brother could've needed some more time alone. But Klaus also felt that something strange was in the air, he had yet to find out that the threat was closer than he thought.

Grace kissed Rebekah's cheek and rubbed her arm lightly when she came up beside her. A little frown crossed her face as there was this bad feeling in her stomach living up again when she touched the blonde Original. But she was ripped out of her thoughts when Klaus stepped closer to her smiling widely.

"Considering that, technically, you're the youngest, Gracie, I see this fact quite irrelevant."

He wrapped his arms around her slim body to hug her, which Grace immediately return. Whenever he saw her, Klaus found himself wondering how he came to trust this girl so much. She was probably the purest soul he ever had seen. He felt this urge to protect her, to apologize for the horrors he put her through every day of their immortal lives. Sometimes he still couldn't get why she really here, embracing him with her big heart, being someone he could trust with his life and family.

"Grace, you need to come, too! Actually, why can't Elijah come back home, too? And Kol? We wanted to be a family again and now we're again split apart!"

Rebekah chirped in, to which Grace lifted an eyebrow. She pulled away from the hug she shared with Klaus while padding his shoulders and turned around. Rebekah had a point, but still the idea of oblivious.

"Because it's too dangerous for you all to gather in one spot while your mother is still walking the earth and we have a missing white oak stake because the town's lumberjack creep, who tried to kill me and literally shot a dozens of bullets into Elijah's chest, has an either more creepy alter ego."

Grace gave her a serious look, to which the blonde pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Whatever. But you two are coming tonight."

She ordered and stormed off. Klaus only chuckled.

"Is it just me or is she acting strange?"

The younger vampire looked after Rebekah, her instincts on high alert. Over the past few days, she had learnt that she should pay more attention to them.

"She's just nervous, don't worry. So, Gracie, will you be my date?"

Taking a deep, annoyed breath, she rolled her eyes and collapsed into the sofa next to her.

"Do I really have a choice?"

Arm in arm, Grace and Klaus walked up to the school's gym. From the collection of gorgeous, priceless historical gowns she hadn't even known existed, she chose a dark flapper dress that she never wanted to get out of again.

"I can't believe none of you told me about your stock of amazing historical items, gowns and whatever a wannabe historian like me could dream about! You do know that the value of this goes through the roof and beyond my imagination?"

She said laughing, trying to hide her overwhelming excitement. The short dress she wore must've been Rebekah's and she knew that she chose one of the more plain pieces. What she saw in the room that Klaus showed her today was unbelievable and he told her that this was one of the smaller parts of the Mikaelson's collection of hidden treasures.

"We lived for a thousand years, love. Elijah was always keen on keeping his so called 'witnesses of the past'. I personally think that it has a streak of hoarding, but whatever makes him happy."

Sometimes she still had to get this number. A thousand years. They've seen empires, kings and important people rise and fall. But they lived through all of it.

"It's a smart move, Nik. History is important. There're so many cloudy occurrences that will never be cleared, because humans are liars. We just rely on the books and who could write books in those ages? Rich people. No one will ever hear the story of the others. The poor, the soldiers, the people in the middle of it...or the bystanders who watched from the shadows and witnessed it all."

She spared a look at Klaus and bit her lip. Grace still hadn't gotten herself to ask Elijah more about the history he saw with his own eyes. Knowing him, he certainly knew about all the stories.

"Gracie, you're sleeping with a viking. Why don't you just ask him if you're so interested in what he saw throughout the centuries? But let me assure you, it's more boring than you think it is."

Blushing, she rolled her eyes and slapped his arm playfully. Finally they arrived inside the crowded room where pupils were dancing to vintage music in crappy costumes. At least it stopped Klaus from teasing her any further.

"Where's Beks?"

Grace asked after she scanned the crowd for familiarly blonde bouncing hair. Fortunately, she neither had seen one of her siblings or their annoying friends. Klaus shrugged.

"Probably out terrorizing people. But as we're waiting for her, you could grant me that dance."

In that exact moment, a slower song started playing and Grace shook her head chuckling before she loosely wrapped her arms around Nik's neck. They didn't really dance, just slightly moved to the tune of the music. It was comfortable, two friends forcedly enjoying some time away from all this chaos.

"Elijah's lucky to have you."

After a short silence, Klaus suddenly stated. It made Grace look up to him. This was the closest to positively emotional she had ever seen him.

"Nik, seriously. I'm not that kind of angel you all claim me to be."

An amused expression ran over his face as he looked down to her. He looked extremely handsome in that white suit. All girls around them couldn't keep their gazes off him.Sometimes Grace had to ask herself the question why she was so immune to his charms. There was a time where Klaus would've laid her without asking twice and there was a time, way before she came back to Mystic Falls, where she wouldn't have said no to someone like him. But in all this time so close together, she hadn't even felt the urge to have an affair with him.

It was because she loved Elijah. All that time she had loved him. But she wasn't ready to admit it. Even thinking about him made her miss him so much at her side.

"Yes, in the months we spent together, I noticed that you have a fire and darkness in you that never will shut down. But I think that's exactly what he needs."

He was absolutely right. Elijah needed to explore his own darkness instead of suppressing it all the time. It would eventually get back at him when this side of him literally exploded and an even worse monster would be born. But was Grace able to match up to a thousand years of lingering darkness? She couldn't even handle her own.

"I'm equally lucky to have him. And even you and Beks. Without you I would be a mess, hiding, self loathing because my own family would never accept my true nature. I like to be a vampire, Nik. Because of you. I'm starting to enjoy it. The body count is a bit scaring but aside from that, I can't tell that I hate to look into my everlasting future."

Klaus looked at her with fascination in his eyes. She never ceased to stun him with such intelligence and compassion coming out of her mouth.

The song came to an end and Grace leaned forward to kiss his cheeks, but she noticed that the hybrid's attention was already elsewhere. Following his gaze, she chuckled when she saw Tyler and Caroline. His gaze had a hint of anger. It was surprising how much emotion that girl could trigger into this thousand year old man. The blonde had such an admirable personality. She was strong, kind and never ceased to state her opinion.

"Behave, Nik."

She squeezed his shoulders before she stepped away. He had to take care of this business. Grace knew that Caroline couldn't return the feeling Klaus had for her, but deep in her heart she wished that the young vampire and Grace's best friend would find their way to each other. They were made for each other, even if Caroline didn't know that right now. She had yet to explore her very own dark side, because in contrary to Grace she wasn't kicked right into it.

For a moment, she watched the exchange between the trio, but then, more or less subconsciously, she pulled out her phone and clicked onto the contact of her loved one. A hint of a smile crossed her face when she eyed the contact photo shortly. It was a photo Rebekah took of the couple in the night of the ball. Elijah at first refused to, but the girls talked him into it. His arm laid around her waist protectively and her hand was placed on his chest. But she liked the photo that was taken afterwards even more. In this, not knowing that Rebekah was taking another photo, they stared at each other and the way he looked at Grace simply described every shade of their relationship. She wished that there were more photos like this. More happy moments. But with the Original family, it probably would never be normal. Still, Grace was ready to live with that.

"Good evening, Grace."

Elijah said into the speaker with a smile after he answered. He just entered the door to the hotel room he stayed in that night.

"Hey."

She whispered, feeling warmth flood her body when she heard his voice.

"Where are you?"

The Original frowned a little when he heard loud music in the background.

"Your sister dragged Nik and me to a school dance. Now it seems she ditched the whole thing. Can't find her anywhere."

Lifting an eyebrow, he kicked off his shoes and fell onto the bed. He took off his tie and opened the upper buttons of his shirt. The room felt so empty without her in it. He missed the way she usually rested her head on his chest. How her breathing got even and she started to doze off in this position. To be honest, he missed everything.

"That doesn't sound like Rebekah."

Grace shrugged, leaning against a wall.

"I think so, too, but Nik just said she probably ran off with some handsome fool. Maybe he's right. We're getting paranoid, Elijah."

She chuckled. Grace trying to cover the fact that her heart was aching. This bad feeling inside her just wouldn't shut up.

"What have you been up to today?"

Her eyes fell back to Nik who was now dancing with Caroline. They were just too cute.

"Not too much. I'm trying to persuade witches into tracking mother, but they either aren't successful in doing a locator spell or not willing to perform one."

Sighing, he drove his hand through his hair.

"That's something I can't understand. I would always fall for your charm."

They could literally hear each other smile through the speaker and for a moment there was this comfortable silence.

"What decade are they covering today?"

His voice was soft. He wasn't making being apart from him any easier.

"The 20's. You should see me, Nik gave me one of those amazing dresses."

Elijah could imagine how stunning she must look. Her face fitted into that decade. She would've loved it.

"I would love to."

The young vampire wished to have him here tonight. They would dance through the night and just pretend to be at a dance, without any worry, talking about the decade.

"What were you doing in the 20's? If I remember right, Nik and Beks were without you then."

Elijah tensed a bit. The story to why he was alone in the 20's was long. It led directly to New Orleans. The place he called home once. He had to admit that he still missed the charm of the city.

"Father hunted us down again. I split from my siblings to lure him away. It was the beginning of Niklaus and me growing estranged."

The story with Elijah's father still felt so horrible, that Grace turned angry whenever she heard Mikael's name. But it was over. He was dead.

"Fortunately, we got rid of that bastard. You don't have to run anymore."

She said reassuringly.

"Grace, when this is all over, I'll take you away for a time. A vacation, just the two of us. Wherever you want. I know it's too early to ask you to explore the world with me, but this is the least I could do. I want you to be happy."

He talked about her greatest fear. She was afraid that there would be a time, where his family needed him elsewhere. Elijah was right, despite her dispute with her family, she wasn't ready to leave Mystic Falls behind forever. They needed her here for another while.

"I am happy. But of course I would love to spent some time alone with you. Maybe we could go back to this cozy hotel and not leave the room...but Paris would also be a tempting goal. I'll decide when all the white oak has burnt and your mother is finally dead."

From the corner of eye, she saw Nik walking towards her with a grim expression on his face.

"I need to go now. I miss you, Elijah."

He smiled. His brother was probably demanding her immediate attention again. Elijah admired that she was always there for his brother. She kept him stable right now, it was obvious.

"I miss you, too."

They ended the call and Grace felt that little ache in her heart when she stopped hearing his voice. But she was quickly distracted by her friend approaching her.

"My lovely sister drags me here and now she's not coming. Let's leave."

He growled, to which Grace rolled her eyes. She too had no interest in staying either, but she hated it when he got this bossy. But she knew that she needed to calm him.

"Did Caroline ditch you, again?"

Grace couldn't help but smirk while she walked by his side. The hybrid shot her a glare, but she saw a little grin playing around his lips. Shaking her head chuckling, she looked forward again. But suddenly she crashed into a barrier that felt like a damn brick wall. She stumbled and Klaus caught her by her waist to stabilize her.

"What is this?"

Both the hybrid and the vampire in unison before they turned around when they heard Stefan approach. Of course. It had been way too quiet tonight, there must be some trouble including them.

"Your mother is back, Klaus."

Grace's eyes widened when the younger Salvatore talked about Esther.

"What?"

Their whole mission had been senseless, then. But Grace's instincts were again right. She had already mused that Esther would be targeting Mystic Falls again, which proved right that Kol and Elijah better stayed away from this crap town. She also have had this feeling about the dance, next time she simply would stay home and trust those creepy instincts.

A minute later, they were all gathered in a class room. On the way Stefan had explained that Esther had Elena and that Alaric was involved in all of this. Bonnie stood in the front and muttered spells to break the barrier but not successfully.

Jeremy and Matt stormed in, her brother still looking shocked when he saw Grace that close to the enemy. He surely was hostile towards her connection with the Originals, but it least he was being fair and also not the biggest fan of the Salvatores either. And he certainly was against killing Klaus, because his sister definitely would go down with him.

"People are leaving right through the barrier."

Matt stated, the attention shifting towards the two humans in the room.

"It's just us. The barrier only holds supernatural creatures in."

Stefan's words made Jeremy chirp in.

"Which means Matt and I can leave. We're going to find Elena."

"No way. It's too dangerous, Jer."

The oldest Gilbert stepped towards her brother and stared him down. It was his cue to back down, but Jeremy had gotten quite stubborn over time.

"We don't have a choice. Elena needs to be saved, Esther will do god knows what with her."

Everyone's eyes shifted between the siblings, knowing that both were right.

For Grace it wasn't an option to put her little brother in such danger. This woman was capable of everything, Grace had witnessed it herself. The only way was for Bonnie to be faster. She exchanged a short glance with Klaus, before she suddenly stood in front of Bonnie's boyfriend and bit hard into his neck. The hybrid rushed in front of the Salvatores to keep them from pulling Grace back.

Jamie tried to push her away, but of course the young vampire was stronger. She didn't drank much and pulled away, intentionally letting the thick red blood run over her lips and chin. her gaze fixated on Bonnie who was yelling at her to let him go, but Grace only smiled sweetly.

"Hurry up, Bonnie. Or I won't stop the next time...Nothing personal, buddy."

She padded Jamie's shoulder and Bonnie turned back to her makeshift altar and begann whispering spells again. Grace let go of the human and licked the blood from her lips. He whimpered, holding his neck. Matt went to him to support him.

When she turned, she came face to face with Jeremy who looked at her unbelievingly.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm protecting the ones I love. You included."

Klaus grinned at her proudly when she stood by his side again. Rolling her eyes, she nudged him. Gazes filled with hostility were directed towards her, but she ignored them.

After some time and an argument filled with shouts between Jeremy and Grace, it became clear that Bonnie wasn't able to break the barrier. Klaus was on the brick of killing some more people, but Grace held him back. It was of no use. Esther was too strong.

They came to the conclusion that they had no choice than to locate Elena and send Matt and Jeremy to her rescue. Grace was fully against that as she was sure that Esther wouldn't hurt Elena, but still the witch could brew up something quite dangerous for the Mikaelsons. That was another option that the young vampire couldn't bear.

Together with Klaus, Damon and Bonnie, Grace walked into another room where the witch would try to perform a locator spell.

Stepping closer to Bonnie, Grace bit into her own wrist to give some of her blood for the locator spell. At least there was something she could do.

"Do I have to do this with you three all lurking over me?"

Damon rolled his eyes.

"If you're still pissed at me for turning your mom, I will repeat my apology and again tell you that I had no choice, because Elijah forced us to."

The witch glared at the raven haired vampire for long, the tension growing thick in the room.

"Which he had every right to, because if he hadn't, we all would've been dead, because Esther would've killed all her children in cold blood."

Grace interrupted the silence by stating the obvious. Damon turned around to her.

"Shut up, traitor. No one's interested in your opinion."

He snarled, which made Klaus step forward.

"Insult her again and I will rip your heart out... On behalf of my brother, of course, who is very interested in protecting her honor."

The hybrid stated the last sentence with a grin, which made Grace chuckle. Sometimes it was strange between the Mikaelson siblings, because aside from Grace being his only friend, it was obvious that Klaus felt responsible for her while Elijah wasn't present. Probably some old fashioned values stayed for ever.

Finally, Bonnie started the locator spell. Magic always fascinated Grace, so she eyed closely as her blood started moving on the map. But it didn't run far and pulled back completely after a short while.

"Esther's blocking me."

Klaus hovered over the map and spared a glance at his partner in crime.

"It's not possible that she harnesses that much power. She must be channeling something."

It Grace think about her research when she and Elijah tried to find Esther in the first place. Elijah told her that some places inherited huge amounts of power.

"A hot spot..."

Her eyes stared into Klaus' and silent communication was running between them. He was cramming his mind for a place, too.

"I know exactly where she is."

Suddenly, he stated, his blue eyes adverting and directed at nothing in particular but with a determined expression written all over his face. His serial killer look.

Half an hour of waiting could turn torturing long. Grace stood close to Klaus who was walking up and down the barrier. She wanted to call Elijah again, but she first of all wanted it all cleared. Because if not, he would be foolish enough to come to the town and try to help. Sometimes emotions were really a problem and Elijah's worry for his love and his family was very prominent these days.

Stefan joined them and Klaus started to speak about good old times again which made Grace zone out. She listened in again when Damon walked up to them.

"He already has a brother. Not wanting to be territorial or anything."

His words dripped of sarcasm and again there was this lingering, disgusted look directed towards Grace. All because of Elena. She had them all wrapped around her little finger. Damon was too clouded to see the older sister's side of things. For him it counted that Grace hurt Elena.

"The sacred bond of the Salvatores. Won't change if Elena finally makes her decision, huh?"

Klaus' amused words made Grace laughed and the glares of the brothers were on her. The looked like they wanted to punch that grin off her face.

Fortunately, Bonnie approached them, too and interrupted the rising fight.

"The barrier is down, Esther is not fighting me anymore."

With that, Klaus and Grace immediately vanished, leaving the witch and the Salvatore brothers alone. They arrived at the old cemetery a minute later and only to find the corpse of Esther lying on the floor. A pool of blood was around her.

"Seems like that was the reason Bonnie could break through. How unfortunate. I would've loved to kill her myself."

Grace looked down to the witch's face who froze in a look of shock. Never before had she felt such a relief to see someone dead, aside from Mikael of course. Now their greatest threat was dead. Her chosen family got rid of their crazy mother. But was it really the end? What had she done in the time while they were trapped in the school?

She heard voices coming from inside the tomb and it quickly was clear that Esther had caused some damage. Alaric's alter ego was ready to have himself turned into an Original vampire and so far, all the steps were done besides from one. He still had to drink human blood. That was their loophole. The hunter seemed to be in his right mind, his darker self pushed away from now.

"Are you coming?"

Klaus ripped her out from eavesdropping. He had Esther's body thrown over his shoulder.

"Give me a minute."

Nodding, her friend disappeared. Grace swallowed the lump in her throat and also her pride when she stepped into the tomb. Elena and Jeremy were with Alaric. All of three of them grew silent when Grace entered. It annoyed her, but she didn't let herself be bothered by that.

"A little ironic, isn't it? You, in transition?"

Her siblings completely misunderstood her words and wanted to chide her for her words. But Alaric raised a hand to stop them. He knew what she wanted to imply. She wasn't gloating. Grace just wasn't good at saying goodbye.

"Yeah, kind of. Sorry that you had to go through it, too."

It silence Jeremy and Elena completely. This seemed to remind them of what Grace had went through in the last few months. They didn't forget that she was a vampire, but seemed to have missed the fact that all of this hadn't been a piece of cake for her, too.

"Thank you for watching out for them."

The hunter and the vampire exchanged a smile before Grace turned around to go back to her new home. She left her siblings stunned and Alaric relieved. He knew that despite Grace looking quite careless and emotionless, she always had an eye on her family. That's why she came back here.

Grace noticed Klaus in the room where he still kept the empty coffins after she arrived at the mansion. He leaned over his mother's body and stared down to her.

"You will never destroy me!"

He yelled in her face. His shoulders and hands were shaking heavily and Grace felt the urge to comfort him. But she knew that he wanted to be alone now. Klaus knew that his friend would stay by his side whenever he needed her.

She glanced at a waking Rebekah shortly before she walked up into Elijah's room and fell into the massive bed. Grace was too exhausted to do anything at all. This night would be one of the haunted ones again. At least Elijah's scent all over the dark blue sheets would comfort her.


	42. Chapter 42

The day after the victory always had something melancholic. It was the day choices should be made that no one wanted to think about before the climax of the fight.

Since Esther was dead and her last try to kill her children died with Alaric, change was inevitable.

Nik wanted to leave Mystic Falls. He had his hybrids already packing. Of course he assumed that Grace would come with him, so Elijah could join them, too. But for the young vampire it wasn't that easy. She was actually afraid to leave her family behind, especially Jeremy. There was still so many unfinished business. Grace wasn't ready to leave, but she also finally wanted to be with Elijah.

The choice wasn't easy, so the only decision she made for the morning was to join a very grumpy Rebekah to clean up the school after yesterday's dance.

Grace was grateful to have something to do and she could spent time with Rebekah at the same time. That girl needed someone urgently right now. She told Nik and Grace what Esther had done to her and of course she was also disappointed that she couldn't go to the dance. It had been important for her. Of course it was something ridiculously simple for someone who was a thousand years old, but the younger vampire understood that Rebekah needed this to remind herself of her humanity.

In comfortable silence, they picked up trash and untied balloons while they both were deeply buried in their thoughts. At least it kept their hands busy. Accidentally crushing some glasses and bins definitely left less damage than cracking skulls.

Soon, they were joined by Caroline, who looked surprised to see the women in the hall, cleaning.

"Hi, Care."

Grace stated friendly, to which Caroline nodded greeting. Her eyes were on Rebekah and she frowned.

"Where's Matt?"

The Original didn't stop picking up used bottles.

"He bailed. Work called him in last minute."

Caroline sighed and started to help. Grace kept an wary eye on the girls, they usually had potential to scratch each other's eyes out. She knew on which blonde she would bet her money on.

Climbing on a table, she detached a banner from the wall.

"I'm sorry about your mom...well, I know you hated her and all, but still..."

Caroline's voice became a bit more sympathetic. It made Grace look over her shoulder to see her friend's reaction. She knew, even after all Esther had done to them, she never hated her own mother. Rebekah couldn't.

"I'm sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy."

A small, proud smile passed the brunette's lips. That was actually development. Maybe there still could be peace between the Originals and her sister's friends. Even tough Grace had chosen her side, it still was hard for her to see them all fighting.

"Yeah, he was..."

The blonde's voice shifted into a sad tone, and Grace had the urge to hug her tightly. Caroline also had lost much and still no one really seemed to see that.

"I'm getting started on gym."

Rebekah stated to break the silence and Grace let her go. It was obvious that she needed a minute alone.

"Thank you, Grace. It's nice that you're helping."

Smiling, Grace jumped down from the table.

"No problem. Rebekah needed someone by her side today."

She felt Carolines gaze on her. There was something she wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure if it would be good to go for it. With raised eyebrows, Grace tilted her head to make her.

"Is this, you know, a 'marry the man, marry the family'-thing? Um, not that you and Elijah are married, but still..."

Another amused smile appeared on Grace's face and she looked at the door Rebekah just disappeared through. She shook her head.

"No. They're my family. You would be surprised, but they're damn loyal, if you let them into your heart. I love them all."

Caroline looked at her with a mixture of surprised and admiration. It was when she understood that Grace's action had a reason. She just tried to protect the family that took her in as the person she was.

But before she could reply anything, they were interrupted by a loud bang and sounds of struggling coming from the hallway. Both women darted towards the source of the sound. They couldn't believe their own eyes when they saw what was happening before them.

Alaric had Rebekah pressed against a locker, the white oak stake hovering above her chest. Without hesitation, Grace threw herself against the history teacher and struggled with him on the floor to buy Rebekah and Caroline time to escape.

He was too strong. Stronger than the average newbie vampire. Even stronger than an Original. Holding her down easily, he drove a stake through her stomach within a second and disappeared to catch Caroline and Rebekah.

It took him less than a minute to return with a limb Caroline dragging behind him. Of course she didn't have enough time to get the stake out of her stomach and fight. In contrary to last time, there wasn't an Elijah Mikaelson that could save her. Still, a little bit of relief washed through her when she noticed that he hadn't gotten Rebekah down. He wouldn't kill Grace and Caroline immediately, they were to much of a fine leverage and, to state the obvious, their death wouldn't wipe out an entire line of vampires.

Grace struggled while Alaric disappeared into one of the classrooms. Of course it was senseless, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. Unfortunately, the vampire hunter was quick to come back. Without saying anything, he picked her up and carelessly dropped her into one of the chairs. She would've crashed onto the floor if he hadn't held the armrests down.

Quickly, he pulled the stake out of her, but before she could even make a sound, he rammed it through her again, which much more force. The tip of the stake stuck in the back of the chair and fixed Grace in this very uncomfortable position. It must've crushed some important organs as she felt pain seeping through her body, blood pooling out of the wound harshly. Her breathing turned rapid, but still she managed to stare into Alaric's eyes bravely, without even making a sound of pain.

From the corner of the eye, she saw that Caroline laid limply in her stool. He must've broken her neck, so he had enough time to tie down Grace first.

There was silence, aside from the brunettes uneven breathing as Alaric attached more and more torture methods to her. At first, he pinned her hands to the table by pushing pencils through her skin.

Then, he went to do the same with the blonde vampire.

"We have quite the history with you stabbing me through my stomach. Is it anything personal?"

A fake smug grin plastered on her face. She had no clue how she kept the tough girl act up. But then again, she learnt from the best and she noticed how similar she was to the Mikaelsons. Grace was strong and her will wasn't easily broken.

"No. To be honest, I pity you. What happened to you wasn't your fault. But well, you chose to become a monster like them."

"Be sure that I like it very much."

Her smile grew wider showing her piercing fangs. She would provoke him to the ends, it would make him vulnerable. Alaric shot her a death glare, it was clear that anger started to pool through him. He obviously had finished his transition into a vampire, that's why he was still alive. With vampirism came heightened emotions and if she brought him to the edge, it would let him step out of his guard, hopefully giving some rescuers the chance to take him down.

She was sure that Klaus was already making a plan. Rebekah had seen Alaric and knew that he had Grace. The hybrid would probably join forces with the Salvatores, who would come for Caroline. It was still risky, the chances of them killing each other before they arrived here was high. Grace just hoped that Nik hasn't called Elijah yet. He needed to stay far away.

"The good thing is, that I'm stronger now and that your boyfriend isn't here to catch some bullets for you. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure that he and his monster of a brother will come here soon to rescue you. Which would give me an Original bodycount of two. See? You're the perfect leverage. Important to everyone here."

Grace couldn't help but laugh. It was bitter, sarcastic and she was laughing right in his face as he now hovered over her. But she wasn't afraid.

"Do you really think they're that stupid? How do you think they survived a thousand years? Ric, you don't stand a chance."

His lip curled upwards as he snarled at her.

"Shut up. The stake can't kill me. I will hunt them down until you abominations are extinct."

The amused smile just wouldn't fade from her attractive face. She drove Alaric nuts, but even he could see why she already had made herself a reputation. Grace Gilbert was fearless, clever and ruthless. A combination that made her dangerous, but her laking strength was her greatest weakness. Which made her the greatest vulnerability of the Original vampires.

"...And I will be here to watch your downfall."

She leaned forward as much as she could and hissed.

"I said shut up!"

Grabbing her chin and bending her neck backwards, he poured vervain water into her mouth. Desperately, she tried to spit it out as she choked on the acid like fluid, but Alaric blocked her airways until she swallowed it.

She felt like she was burnt from the inside out. Like all of her organs ripped apart and her stupid heart pumped the vervain deeper into her veins, making them feel like sandpaper. It was the second time she felt like that in a short amount time. But now it was even more violent.

Grace was on the edge of passing out for a while, so she didn't catch Caroline waking up and Alaric calling Elena. The blonde vampire tried to wake her, but the rope soaked in vervain kept her from speaking. She had heard all of her bravery and she desperately wanted to help her best friend's older sister. But she just couldn't.

When the oldest Gilbert came to full consciousness again, Elena stood in front of her, shaking her by her shoulder, which made the stake push even deeper into her. Of course her sister didn't do it intentionally, but it still made Grace hiss in pain.

"...Now put her out of her misery."

It was the first Grace could hear properly. With the white oak stake, Alaric motioned towards Caroline. Elena's gaze was still on her older sister, looking for help in her eyes. But except from buying time with snarky comments and getting the hunter's attention from the blonde vampire to her, there wasn't much Grace could do.

"You know what, Ric? Why don't you let her kill me? I mean, I really deserved it. Caroline here doesn't enjoy being a vampire. But I do. I goddamn love it. Have I told you about the three innocent girls I sucked dry some days ago? It was such fun."

A growl came from Alaric's throat and suddenly all eyes were on her. Just like she wanted to. They needed more time.

Grace's voice was rough, but she still didn't fail to push Ric's temper. Her eyes shone with a cruelty that surely made Elena and Caroline fear her.

"Unfortunately, Gracie, you're more important than her. I still need you."

He pushed the pencil deeper into her hand, but Grace didn't even flinch. It was impressive how much pain her body could take. She did it all to save the people she loved. Elena being here made it one more person to protect.

Roughly, the hunter grabbed Elena's wrist and pulled her to her friend before he handed her the white oak stake. It obviously was a dumb and arrogant move and Grace saw that it was their chance. She put all her hope on her sister being clever enough.

Relief flooded her body when she saw what was happening. Instead of attacking Caroline, Elena tried to stake Alaric and of course failed at first. But in the moment of surprise, when Alaric was distracted, she threw the glass of vervain water in the middle of his face.

Immediately, Elena rushed over to her friend and untied her quickly. Another smart move. That girl had at least learnt something. Alaric wouldn't kill Grace, so Caroline was the first who needed to be freed.

Caroline managed to escape, but before Elena could run after her, Alaric appeared in front of her and dragged her out by her hair. What he didn't notice was that Elena managed to pull a pencil out of her older sister's hand.

From outside, she heard her sister's screams, but suddenly also different footsteps and yells that sounded like Klaus. Finally that bastard made it here. It was about time.

But Grace was still all by herself. The other vampires had their hands full with taking down the newbie Original. Now it showed how strong she really could be.

She was still weakened by the vervain and would stay like that if she wouldn't consume blood soon. But despite that, she had no choice but free herself. With shaking hands, she grabbed the pencil and pulled it out trying to not make a sound to draw attention towards her.

The most hardest challenge was the stake in her stomach. It was far from healing, blood was still seeping through and pooling on the floor. The stake being deeply stuck into the chair behind her didn't make it any better. A sudden hysteric attack of laughter came over her when she thought how funny it must look from the outside. The stake must pierce out of her back, like in a really bad horror movie. It could be called the perks of being a vampire.

She muffled the laughter that quickly turned into sobs with her blood stained hands before she grabbed the end that was sticking out of her stomach. With all of the power she had left, she pulled it out. Grace nearly collapsed on the table in front of her when the stake finally fell to the floor. But she couldn't rest in here. She still wasn't safe. There was still struggling being heard from outside the room, so she had to be quick. They were too close to her to escape through the hallway, so she took a deep breath in before she jumped through the closed window, shattering the glass into pieces. Of course it would get the attention on her, but in the sunlight Alaric couldn't harm her. The shards scraped new wounds into her bloodless skin, but she didn't really notice it anymore.

All she could think about was running. But she was too weak. She had no clue how far she came, but she saw the line of trees that presented the entrance to the woods in front of her. Her vision blurred. Grace wasn't home yet, but there was no energy left for her to run. Collapsing on the hard ground, she tried to get up again, but failed miserably. Before she could do anything else, she slipped out of consciousness.

Nik carried her home. He was gentle, trying his best to avoid the multiple way too slowly healing wounds that were all over her body. It lit his hatred for his mother's newest abomination even more.

"It's going to be ok, Gracie. I'm so sorry."

He whispered. Placing her on the vintage sofa that would soon be blood stained, he lightly stroked her hair. How should he explain this to Elijah? Klaus had been responsible to protect her and now she was here, injured, just having jumped away from the edge of death all by herself. All this because he was ready to put Elena's doppelgänger blood first. Grace didn't deserve that. She did so much for him, the least he could do was handle her as this precious being that she was. He needed to take care of her, make her heal and get her to Elijah soon. His brother was truly the only one that could help her through this trauma.

But she survived. That was what counted. Still, he had to admit that his older brother was right with his worries about Grace belonging to the family. She had been kidnapped and tortured twice within some weeks. It wasn't even the worst that could've happened. How much pain could the young vampire take before she broke? Before the family would've another weight of guilt on their shoulders? A certainly important weight that could make him loose Elijah if anything ever happened to Grace.

That was why Nik had to go through with it. Family above all, that was what his brother tried to get into his head all the time. Now he would give up his endless amount of hybrids by draining Elena Gilbert fully off her blood.

He turned to the doppelgänger, who stared at her sister. It was fascinating. Elena treated her own sister quite unfairly, still, in the end, the sisters sticked together.

Grace was woken by voices mumbling. She could make out Klaus' pleasant, British accented voice and Elena replying weakly. It made her sure that she was still dreaming. Her sister and her best friend would never talk to each other more than necessary.

"Nik?"

Whispering silently, she tried to sit up. Her throat was still burning so tormentingly, but at least there weren't any stakes attached to her anymore.

The hybrid appeared beside her immediately. He helped her into a sitting position by grabbing her shoulders.

"Thank god, you're awake."

He cupped her cheek with her hand. She looked up to him and realized how lucky she was to have him. Grace could trust him with her life and he also cared for her deeply. This family was the best thing that could ever happen to her. Not only that she found the love of her life, she also had people that would literally go through hell for her and she would do the same.

She thought the worst was over when she noticed someone moving out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, to fight the dizziness taking over, she turned her head and saw her sister tied to chair, tubes attached to her arms, letting her blood flow into blood bags. Only on the edge of her mind she noticed that seeing the blood flow made her even more hungry and that she would've loved to suck all the blood bags dry. The situation was just too weird and shocking for her bloodlust to take over.

"What are you doing?"

With her hoarse voice, she didn't even manage to bring out a proper yell. She jumped to her feet, but Nik had to stabilize her again, because she was swaying harshly. Trying to slap his hands away in rage, she growled.

"Nik, what is this?!"

She looked him in the eyes when he didn't answer. Grace couldn't get what he was doing here. Of course she knew that he wanted to take Elena with him to sire more hybrids, but this was something entirely different. It looked like he wanted to drain her off all her blood.

"Your sister's life is tied to Alaric's. If she dies, he dies, too and we get rid of this problem. Gracie, believe me, I don't want to this, but I need to protect you. My family. He hurt you today, he was only seconds away from killing you. I don't want to run anymore. I need to do this."

Grace stumbled backwards until she hit a wall, shaking her head. With wide eyes she stared at Klaus. She couldn't process what he was saying. Did he really have the audacity to tell her that he wanted to kill her sister and at the same state that he cared for her? That she was his family? Was he really that much of a hypocrite? Was he really that far beyond reason?

"No! No, you will not!"

"Grace, please..."

"No!"

She tried her best to let a serious yell escape her mouth. It seemed to hit the right nerves. Hurt crossed Nik's features.

"Do you really think I would forgive you killing my sister for a second time? She's my family, Nik! Jeremy is, too. You. Beks. Even Kol. Elijah. I love you all. And all of you are trying to make me choose, but I will not! You can't take a part of my family away from me, Nik."

Unintentionally, she started to walk back towards him. It was no use to be angry and shout at him. He needed to understand why he couldn't kill Elena. She realized that he was just afraid that she would leave him, by death or any other way. It was his dilemma. Klaus would always fall back into this scheme, killing the loved ones outside the family. Daggering his siblings. It was just a way of facing the consequences later.

"Nik, look at me! We will protect each other. I won't die. But I will leave you if you kill Elena. Because I love her and I wouldn't forgive you. Stand by me, fight with me. Let my sister have her human life and then we'll live peace. Without any hybrids, because seriously, you don't need them! You already have a family and united, we're stronger than any threat that could face us. And even if that's not reason enough for you: Please. Do it for me."

She had put both her hands on the side of his face to force him to look at her. Tears were streaming down both of their faces. Grace saw it in his ocean blue eyes. She was getting through. He wouldn't kill her. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him and they simply held each other.

They were so deeply into the moment, they didn't hear the intruders. Klaus was first to notice the movements. He shot out of Grace's arms to rip Tyler who tried to free Elena away from the doppelgänger. The force made the chair tip over and Elena's head crashed hard on one of the steps.

Grace wanted to get to her sister, but she was stopped by the scene unfolding in front of her. Tyler and Damon held down Klaus, while Stefan sunk his fingers into the hybrid's chest. She couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her. Klaus' skin started to turn grey and the veins all over stood out blackish.

She screamed and wanted to stop them, but Damon appeared behind her and grabbed her arms to stop her. The young vampire was still to weak to do anything, so she had to watch. Klaus' and her gazes connected and she collapsed on the wooden floor, sobs shaking her body.

All of a sudden, they were all gone. She was alone. They even took Klaus' body.

It took her long to process what had just happened. The first thing she could do was taking out her phone and dial the first number that appeared on the screen.

"Grace?"

Elijah's voice was immediately concerned as he heard her sobs through the speaker. He had been on edge for the whole day, sensing that Grace was in danger. But he had promised to stay away.

"I...I need your help."

The Klaus and Grace moment had me in tears!

I'm soooo excited to write about the season 3 finale, it'll probably leave me crying, too. I probably will have to split it into two chapters, sorry for that in advance.


	43. Chapter 43

After she ended the call with Elijah, Grace realized how utterly alone she was now. They took Nik. Rebekah was nowhere to be heard, she probably ran for the hills. Elijah would get into his car immediately, but it still would take him hours to get here.

She allowed herself to break down in tears, surprised by how many of them could produce in one day. Grace had no clue how long she could fight anymore. The whole tough girl act wore off. She was simply afraid of everything. There was no part in her body that wasn't in pain. Her heart couldn't bear loosing anyone else.

After a while, the burning hunger ripped her back into reality. She was just inches away from blood bags filled with Elena's blood. At that moment, she didn't care that it was terribly wrong to drink her own sister's blood or that it was the last of the essence to create hybrids. Breathing heavily, she ripped the bag open and drank it empty onto the last drop. Hungrily she reached for two other bags filled to the rim with the still warm liquid. Strength flooded back into her limbs and determination rose in her, helped her to her feet and kept her going.

She would get Nik back. Grace would make Mystic Falls a safe place again, whatever it takes.

The wounds finally closed fully, so she took a moment to wash the blood off, dump the destroyed clothing in a bin and change into clean clothing.

Sighing, she tried to figure out where to start, her thoughts feeling like they were echoing from the walls of the huge, lifeless mansion, when her phone rang. Frowning, she saw the caller was Carol and she answered.

"Emergency council meeting. My home."

Her voice was rushed and the mayor immediately ended the call without waiting for a response from Grace. There was something fundamentally wrong and she'd bet all the money Elijah ever spend on suits that it was connected to Alaric.

It was like walking into the lions den. But she still had to do it. Of course it stole time to save Klaus from the Salvatores, but still the vampire hunter held the means to kill the Originals which made him the more urgent problem.

Grace arrived at the Lockwood mansion together with Sheriff Forbes. Liz still had the lingering stare of mistrust in her eyes because she didn't trust the Mikaelsons or any addition to them, but Grace couldn't care less, she had more urgent problems. She probably had the creepy gaze on her face again.

Carol ripped open the door before one of the women could knock.

"It's 4am, Carol. What's so urgent?"

The sheriff stated and Grace just lifted her eyebrows, expecting the mayor to finally explain. Council meetings always had their quite dramatic touch, Grace couldn't say that she felt comfortable in the middle of this vampire hating bunch.

"I didn't call in the meeting...He did."

She grabbed both Grace's and Liz' arms and dragged them inside. Of course it was Alaric. He stood in front of the whole lot of council members that mumbled obviously nervous. They all had no idea what was going on her. But Grace immediately new when she met the coldly amused eyes of the former history teacher. He was going to out them all in front of the council to get control over the town. This was a vampire hunt and Grace was the only vampire present at the moment.

While shock stood written all over Liz' face, the young vampire's gaze just turned into a scowl, not leaving eye contact with Alaric. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and lifted her chin arrogantly. At least she had her facade in perfect control.

"I was just telling the council about our vampire problem. Or should I say your problem?"

Carol, Liz and Grace stood together in front of the door and stared at Alaric. Grace was the only one to keep her composure properly.

"You see, the sheriff, who is meant to keep the town safe, has a vampire as a daughter...our mayor, her son is a vampire werewolf hybrid...Oh and let's not forget our latest addition. The lovely Grace Gilbert, a girl you all have known since she's a child is a vampire."

Gasps went through the rows of humans as he motioned towards the three women.

"These women cover up all the deaths caused by their children...and themselves...with lies. To fool us."

No one was sure what to do. Suddenly, Grace's chuckle made them all silence. All eyes were on her as she stepped towards Alaric. They weren't able to hide anymore, so the least Grace could do was shift the attention from Liz, Carol and their children to her. Either way Grace was the best protected lost cause in town.

She shortly lowered her head and then tilted it to the side to show the humans her true face. Her fangs pierced her lips, black veins cracking up the extraordinary beauty of her lovely features. Another gasp and muffled screams went through them and the humans instinctively backed away, trying to flee the threat that they hadn't expected.

"Let's not forget I'm not the only vampire in here, right, Ric?"

Even after all he had done today, she was still fearless. She stared him right in the eyes.

"I'm the evil you need to accept in order to kill a greater evil. By that I mean your wretched adopted family..."

His voice grew louder, addressing the whole audience again.

"You see, she brought the source of all the chaos we had to endure here. The Originals. A family of thousand year old vampires. Miss Gilbert here chose to become...involved with them. As it is her nature, she chose the darkest path to take."

Realization lit up in all their faces. They all had seen her with Elijah. The nice, charming historian. All of them had welcomed Klaus and Rebekah. It literally could be seen how they put the pieces of the puzzle together.

As the attention was all on Grace and Alaric, it gave time for Carol and Liz to flee and warn Tyler and Caroline. But unfortunately Alaric seemed to notice them trying to get away, too.

Suddenly, he appeared in front of the women and blocked their way.

"You won't go anywhere."

Both of them stared at him with wide eyes. They knew they couldn't defend themselves. But none of them reckoned with a very brave and suicidal Grace. With all the force she had, she tackled the vampire hunter and crashed with him on the ground. The element of surprise let her land a few punches. On the side of her mind she noted that she urgently proper training. She had all this power flowing through her and still she had no clue how to direct it into physical strength.

The last thing she heard before her neck was broken was the door falling shut behind Carol and Liz.

Surprisingly, Grace was alone in the Lockwood mansion when she woke up a few minutes later. She lost time. Alaric had a head start, he was probably already on his way to track down Klaus' body.

The only chance she had was to make Elena and the Salvatores hand him over to her before Alaric could find him, hoping that Elijah would arrive soon with a plan.

Jumping to her feet, she followed the well known way to her old home. She took the ridiculously easily hidden spare key and entered the house only to be met by the surprised glances of Elena, Stefan and Matt. Her sister was outstretched on the sofa and her human friend and Stefan immediately rushed in front of her.

Grace just snorted and stepped closer to them. Even Matt Donovan hated her. When he and Elena were together, he was one of the people that found her creepy, but all in all they got along quite well. But he also seemed to be deep into thinking that Grace was the villain here.

"Do you really think I would kill my own sister?"

She stared up into Stefan's forest green eyes. He was determined to protect Elena, she honored that, but still it bugged her that everything thought that low of her. She should start to get used to it.

"I think that you'd do practically everything to protect the Mikaelsons."

He stated, to which Grace's upper lip curled upwards in anger shortly.

Yes, she would do a lot to keep them save. But she wouldn't kill her other family. It was exactly the same she said to Nik before. She wanted them all to be at peace. Nothing more.

"Well, Stefan, if you really assume that I'm that much of a threat, why haven't you killed me already? I'm sure you don't give a damn about me."

Stefan's stern expression seemed to melt off his face into a look of regret and insecurity. Of course it would be suicidal to kill her, as it would expose him to the wrath of the Original family, but there was more to it.

"Because your sister does care."

He admitted and Grace shook her head with a sarcastic smile. She pushed Matt out of the way to see Elena who had sat up on the couch.

"I came to negotiate Klaus' freedom with you. I want you to hand him over to me."

Matt snorted, but Stefan just silently watched the Gilbert sisters.

"Why should we? He tried to kill me, Grace, again! Doesn't this matter to you?"

The young vampire had a really short temper today and her patience with her sister's judging attitude was long gone.

"I had him, Elena. You of all people saw it! I broke through to him. He was about to release you, but you had to ruin it all! Do you guys even have a clue what you've done?"

Elena shakily stood up, Stefan was beside her immediately and held her.

"What then? He would've taken me away to be his personal blood bag."

The older sister shook her head unbelievingly. Didn't she want to get it?

"Even if you'll always see the bad, murderous monster in him, that's not what he is! He's afraid, Elena. His whole life he'd been fearing that his family would leave him. That's why he created the hybrids. But he slowly started to realize that his siblings and I are the only he needs. Now you did everything to proof his paranoia right. He can't defend himself, you made him into an easy target for Alaric. If he dies, we all probably die. What were you thinking?"

But Grace realized that this was probably a lost cause. Elena was too stubborn to give in. She would hold to her grudge towards Klaus and risk everything by doing it.

"Grace..."

Her sister sighed.

"No, don't say 'Grace' as if I'm the one who don't understand. Even if you don't see anything I just told you as a reason, I ask you, Elena, as your sister. He's important to me."

Elena adverted her gaze, obvious that she wouldn't do it for her. Grace shook her head disappointed and walked towards the kitchen to find some strong booze. She found Bourbon in one of the drawers, but before she could open it and bring the amber liquid to her lips, she sat it down on the counter. Her hands were trembling, all these emotions washing over her again, threatening to bring more tears.

When there was a knock on the door, she at first didn't care as she was too deeply drowned in her sorrows.

Elijah smiled at Stefan who had opened the door. The expression had something predatory, he obviously wasn't up to games. The younger Salvatore stared at the Original warily.

"I would like to speak to the only adult in this household."

His words were spoken in an arrogant tone, but all he could fell was rage and the immediate urge to see Grace. Too many things had happened since they parted ways, he was worried beyond sanity.

"Grace, it's for you."

Stefan's statement wasn't necessary. The mentioned already had heard the voice of the man she loved. They stared at each other for a moment, holding their breaths, before Grace stormed into Elijah's arms. He held her close and she wrapped her arms around him. Finally he was here. She wasn't alone anymore. Elijah would help her settle this. They were going to be ok. His presence gave her the feeling of being safe and Elijah felt pure relief consume him when he saw that Grace was at least physically save. But in her eyes he could see how much strength it all cost her.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. The Original wanted to kiss all her sorrows away, but he knew he couldn't right now. Elijah needed to free his brother, until then both of them couldn't be happy.

Some minutes later, they all sat around the kitchen table. Grace briefly told him what had happened in the last few hours, in addition to what she already filled him in on phone. Jeremy had joined the conversation, too, after he had a talk with Alaric which upset Grace even more.

"We just need disarm him off the stake and my siblings and I will scatter to the ends of the world. Alaric will follow us."

His voice was strong and calm. Grace could see how much restraint it took for him to stay like that and not rip Stefan's head off for taking Klaus.

The fleeing part suddenly didn't seem that wrong anymore. Since her family and their friends betrayed her again, Grace was sure that she was better off outside this crap town. The only thing she wanted was to be with Elijah and now that Rebekah, Kol and Nik were save.

"And you'll simply run?"

Stefan stood behind Elena, hovering over her protectively.

"Yes. It's not the first time. Rebekah and Niklaus spent the better part of a thousand years running from our father. What does another half a century mean? Elena could live her human life and in the end, we'll be free of Alaric."

He simply had this aura of authority. People listened to him. In the five minutes he was here he came farer than Grace did in days. Maybe it was because he had the pure facts and the right reasons. Elijah knew how to persuade people.

"Why should we trust you?"

Matt suddenly chirped in and it clawed at Elijah's never ending patience. This boy had nothing to do with this. He definitely should mind his own business.

Grace sent the blonde young man a glare, but she kept her mouth shut. She figured it was better to let Elijah do the talking.

"I could've killed Elena the moment I walked in here. It's not my intention. There's someone present I want to make happy."

His gaze shifted to Grace and he took her hand and squeezed her hand gently. The young vampire melted by this gesture. While they shared this short moment, the other's eyes were on them. They all took a deep breath and shared a look.

Of course Damon who was on speaker phone had to ruin it.

"Hello? Of course we shouldn't trust your traitorous, lunatic sister and her side kick of a boyfriend!"

Elijah closed his eyes for a second annoyedly. His eyes darted to the phone in the middle of the table.

"I would be careful to insult this woman just after desiccating my brother and putting my family in immediate danger with it."

The warning lingered in the room and Grace's lips twitched with amusement. Elijah's hand never left hers.

"I promise you, we will keep my brother in check. He will not threaten your life anymore."

He continued. Finally he said 'we'. He wanted her in on this.

"It's your decision, Elena."

Stefan sighed and everyone ignored Damon's senseless commotion.

"Why do you want Klaus back?"

Grace's sister suddenly asked. It was a really dumb question, Grace thought, but she really seemed to need Elijah's answer on this to decide. Elena's eyes shortly flickered to grace, maybe she would take what her older sister said before Elijah arrived into consideration, too.

"He's my brother. We remain together."

His dark eyes were full of candor. Elena seemed to look for something in his eyes and she finally came to a choice.

"We have a deal."

She sighed. Grace and Elijah shared a short, relieved look before they all got up to make the plan work. Elijah called Rebekah who should pick up Nik's body. Shortly after, Jeremy made his call to Alaric to lead him to a false trail.

And then, they were alone. Elena and Stefan went upstairs, while Jeremy and Matt went to the porch.

Grace took the opportunity to let her guard down for a moment. She knew that in Elijah's presence she could be weak. Never would she have to be ashamed of herself because she couldn't be strong all the time if he was there.

Elijah leaned against the kitchen counter, Grace opposite him and they just stared at each other for some time.

"You were here fast."

She stated, her voice exhausted and still a bit rough. Elijah looked at her with concern visible in his eyes, before he couldn't help himself and pull her close again. She leaned her head on his chest and simply breathed in his calming smell. He was her only comfort in this cruel situation.

"I wasn't far away."

A little smile stretched across her face and she lifted her head to look at him again. How much she missed seeing his handsome features and getting lost in this endless chocolate depths.

Of course he didn't stay away the way he was supposed to. He couldn't. Elijah held a certain distance from Mystic Falls, but he was always close enough to be there if he was needed and it was obvious that Grace would've already needed him a day ago.

"Thank you for being here."

Stroking his cheek lightly, she felt his soft, warm skin against her fingertips. The warm sensation streamed from her fingers to her arm and deeply into her heart.

"Thank you for fighting for our family."

Our family. He included her. Grace was a part of it. Still, she had no clue how much Elijah admired her for taking the Mikaelsons so profoundly into her heart. No one before had risked everything to protect them like she did.

Emotions nearly boiled over in Grace when Elijah pulled her closer to kiss her. It was nearly chaste. His lips were so gentle that it made Grace's legs weak. Her hands caressed his neck before clawing into his soft hair. There was a hint of desperation in this kiss, they both put an explanation of how much they missed each other in it. A short piece of happiness and peace in the middle of the whole world falling apart between them. Grace didn't forget all the torment that she had just endured, but this kiss made her realize that there were better times to come. That she and Elijah deserved to be together and share moments like these a lot more often. Hope flooded both of them.

They never wanted to let go of the other in this moment, but they knew that they had to go back to reality. It wasn't over yet. Alaric was still running the streets, trying to kill the people Grace loved.

"I want this to be forever."

She whispered after they broke apart. Elijah nodded and they expanded the moment for a little while longer by hugging each other tightly again.

Over Elijah's shoulders, Grace saw that Elena was standing next to the stair, watching her older sister and the Original vampire. A small, understanding smile lit the doppelgänger's face. Maybe she was starting to accept that their relationship wasn't a fling to annoy Elena.

They stood gathered in the middle of the woods, close to the position where Jeremy told Alaric Klaus body was buried. The silence around the group was heavy. All of them were deep into their own thoughts. Grace and Elijah positioned themselves a bit away from Caroline, Stefan and Jeremy. Elena and Matt had stayed at home. Of course Grace wasn't happy with her little brother in the middle of this, he was the most vulnerable. But unfortunately for his older sister, he was needed here and Grace had to let him make his own decisions. Even if they were stupid.

The couple had their hands intervened and Grace felt his worried glance on her all the time. If Alaric came here, all the vampires were needed to steal the white oak stake from him. Elijah was the only one that truly could take on the vampire hunter. He wouldn't be able to protect her.

To be honest, the Original was steaming of rage. Grace hadn't told him the amount of torture Alaric had done to her, he was sure of it. He felt the red door swinging wide open, his inner monster tempting him to plant revenge. Even the darkest side of him cared so deeply for this woman.

But that wasn't the today's goal. The plan was to disarm the hunter and spend more years running. Of course Elijah hated it. He wanted to offer Grace peace, happiness and stability. The Original wanted nothing more to show her what immortality had to offer. There were so many places he wanted to explore with her.

The picture of the small chateau in south France he owned came to his mind. Elijah was sure Grace would love it. Usually he wasn't a person to be impatient. Of course he would stick to the deal, but still, he couldn't await to live what they both had imagined for so long.

Grace had similar thoughts, but they were interrupted by fear. She feared for their lives. The relationship between Grace and Elijah had reached a point where it would kill her to loose him.

The thought of Nik desiccated and vulnerable in a coffin was beyond painful.

Rebekah was all on her own to get her brother. Maybe she should've joined her, but then again it would've taken Grace too long to get there.

Shadowing her mind was again this instinct that told her that she should be afraid. It just couldn't run this smoothly. Grace and Elijah were risking their lives to get their hands on the white oak stake, but she was sure there was more to it.

Stefan's faint voice made its way into their thinking minds. They both looked up and saw that he had his phone to his ear. Quickly, they walked over to the younger Salvatores as they heard him speaking the last words into the phone.

"He was a liar, Damon. He wasn't the sire of our line. We'll all be fine."

He was. Past. Stefan spoke about Nik in past tense.

Grace and Elijah froze on spot, trying to read something off Stefan's face.

"What happened?"

Elijah was the first one to find words, his expression horrified.

"Klaus is dead. Alaric staked him."

Klaus is dead.

The words echoed in Grace's skull, not willing to process them.

Suddenly, all eyes were on her. They came to a conclusion more quickly than her.

Even if Nik hadn't sired the Salvatores line...there were two among them that they could be sure of were turned by him. Tyler. And Grace.


	44. Chapter 44

_What have you imagined doing in the last hour of your life?_

 _When it was sure that you would die and everyone knows that they'll never see you again?_

 _When you realize that there are so many things you haven't done._

 _Have you said 'I love you' to everyone that you care for? Will you have the chance to say 'Good bye' to your loved ones?_

It was the second time in Grace's life that she would die. But the first time was different. Then, when Klaus snapped her neck, all those choices were taken away from her. It was easier that way.

The first time, she wasn't needed that much. Jeremy and Elena would've grieved, but they still had Alaric. It would've been ok to stay dead. She would've moved to the place where human souls went.

Now it was slightly different.

At first, Grace didn't even realize what it meant. The only thing she could think of was that Nik died. Her best friend, her partner in crime, Elijah's brother, the man that she pulled out of the downward spiral was dead. It wasn't fair. Grace broke through to him. She was so close to help him, to let him see that he wasn't alone, that there were people he could trust.

He was alone now. Nik died without his family. Rebekah probably had the honor of watching her brother burning.

When she looked up into Elijah's face, her heart shattered into pieces. She never had seen him like that. The carefully crafted mask of arrogance and honor had completely vanished. His eyes had an amount of grief and complete destruction in them, it felt like her heart being ripped out from her chest. He was deathly pale, from one second to the other he looked like he'd been awake for a year. His hands clutched around her arms.

It was then when Grace realized that it wasn't just the grief for his brother that had him in an iron grip. Elijah also knew that she, the woman he loved, would die soon after.

"No."

He whispered. His grip around her arms tightened, as if it would keep her here. As if he could simply pull her out of her certain death. At this moment he was sure that he would never let go of her. Elijah would simply hold her and she would be fine.

A thousand years of lifetime. There had been multiple occasion where he wanted to end it. He sometimes drowned in the pathetic imagination of himself with his own little family, even tough he knew that he could never have it.

But since Grace Gilbert stepped into his life, he never wasted a thought about dying again. She brought a light to his life, that eliminated nearly all the shadows. A hope that made him urge for another thousand years, if he could spent them with her.

He violently shook his head, not ready to accept the thought of her dying. Grace cupped his cheeks with her hands, she wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by her brother showing up behind her.

"Grace..."

The boy's voice was equally broken, threatened to be disturbed by sobs. His older sister turned around to face Jeremy, she was again at a loss of words.

"Please, you can't die. Gracie, I can't do this again..."

In this moment, Jeremy was the insecure, frightened teenager that lost his parents too early again. It was nearly relieving that this person was still there. He grew up too fast.

Grace managed to pull herself together and be strong for her little brother. She didn't dare to look at Elijah again, she knew that she would fall apart again if she did.

Grabbing Jeremy by his shoulders and looked him into the eyes. Their parents, Jenna, Alaric and now his oldest sister...how should he ever get over it and live a normal life, give his heart away without fearing that death was lurking around every corner.

"It's ok, Jer. I'm already dead. It was only a matter of time. I'm ok, I'm not afraid."

It was a straight lie, but she had to say it in order to leave her little brother without a heavy guilt. Her death wouldn't be any easier for him to process if he knew that Grace wanted nothing more than more time.

"But I can't live on like this! You're my sister, I can't loose you, too."

Tears spilled over her brother's cheeks and Grace lunged forward and pulled him into an embrace. Grace stroked his hair, making soothing sounds to somehow calm him. She did that so often when they were younger.

"It's going to be ok, Jer. Hey, we'll have hell of a fun when I'm annoying you from the other side."

She chuckled. Maybe it would give him a little piece of hope that he would at least be able to see her again as a ghost.

"Come on, let's go, I need to talk to Elena."

Jeremy tensed a bit in her arms and he looked up. His cheeks were wet of tears. It was like her 14 year old little brother in the body of a grown man. Grace was so proud of him.

"Elena isn't home, Grace. Matt and I...we got her out of town."

She smiled lightly and nodded.

"It's the best for her, that's true. You did the right thing. I'll call her."

Leaning forward, she kissed Jeremy on his cheek. It was so hard for Grace not to cry. For the last time in her life she needed to be strong.

"Go home, Jer. I don't want you to see this."

"But..."

He disagreed and looked at her with a deep pain written in his eyes.

"Elijah will be with me. It's ok."

It's ok...

She said it so often to him and it's the biggest lie she ever told.

Jeremy sobbed, before he made himself turn around and walk away. Grace's hands shook violently as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She spared a short glance over her shoulder to see Elijah still frozen in spot. He hadn't moved a bit. But before she could turn her whole attention to him, she dialed Elena's number.

"Grace! Oh my god!"

Elena answered immediately with a tear-struck voice.

"Hey, little sis..."

For the first time in months her voice was calmly speaking to her sister. There was no time left to hold grudges.

"This can't be happening! Grace, tell me you're not dying."

Grace sighed and stayed silent for a moment. She knew that Elena would blame herself for her death, because she and her friends made Klaus vulnerable.

"I feel fine. Stefan told me it took Finn's girl around an hour before she grew sick."

Sobs were to be heard through the speaker.

"What can I do? Please, Grace, tell me what to do."

Grace wavered when she heard her sister's voice. She felt Elijah's hand on her elbow, but she still couldn't look at him. Carefully she leaned her head on his chest. It gave her strength.

The point was, the she couldn't tell her anything. She herself had no idea what she would do.

"Stay strong, Elena. Watch out for Jeremy. I'll be there from the other side, but it won't be enough. I still need to..."

She let the sentence fade out and she grabbed Elijah's hand. Grace would be busy on the other side. It would probably rip her apart to see Elijah. Without Nik and without her. Would he ever move on? She hoped he did. At least it would be easier watching her siblings live their human life.

"...I know. I will. Grace? I know that we haven't been...close recently, but I still love you. I want you to know this."

It was strange that Grace needed to die in order for the sisters to realize how much they cared for each other. In this moment their fighting felt so senseless.

"I love you, too, little sis. Be careful. Keep the Salvatores busy."

...if they don't die, too.

The sisters ended the call shortly after. Grace knew that she also had to talk to Stefan and Damon, just in case.

The moment where she had to face Elijah alone and process that she just said an eternal goodbye to her loved ones was dragged out when a distraught Rebekah appeared in front of them.

Grace stepped a little bit aside to give the siblings space.

"He's dead, Elijah. I couldn't save him."

Tears were all over her cheeks and her older brother walked up to her and hugged her tightly. It didn't surprise Grace. Even if the blonde pretended to loathe Nik so often, in the end they stood together. In the end, a thousand years wasn't enough time. They loved each other so deeply, nothing could really break them apart.

Everyone said that a thousand years had to be enough. But to be honest, have they really lived for once in this time? Grace doubted it. They were hunted by their own father, right after their parents took their normal life from them. The ability to choose to be human.

Elijah glanced at Grace and he lifted his arm from Rebekah, implying that she should finally come over and grieve with them. Nik had also been her family.

Still slightly swaying by the overwhelming emotions, she joined the embrace. Elijah held the two most precious women in his life close to him, holding onto them knowing they were his anchor. If he let go, he would loose himself.

"Gracie...I'm so sorry."

Rebekah brought out in between sobs. Grace just nodded and rubbed her back gently. When they pulled away, Grace shortly turned to Elijah.

"Can you leave us for a moment?"

Elijah stared at her for while, not really wanting to let her out of his eyesight, as every last minute with her wasn't enough. But then he nodded and stepped deeper into the woods.

Grace immediately turned around and grabbed the blonde by her shoulders. She didn't have much time left.

"Rebekah, we don't have much time. You need to promise me something. Please, get away from here, run, stay safe. But more importantly, make sure that Elijah stays sane. Beks, I can't do it any longer, you have to be strong for me. Because he won't. I know him, he'll loose himself. That's something that can't happen. Stay with him and when the time is right, you two and Kol of course, will be happy again."

The Original didn't answer and just stared at her friend. Grace shook her lightly to get her attention again. Finally, Rebekah nodded.

"I promise. I will do everything to protect our family."

Her voice was suddenly clear and strong. It frightened Grace a little, but it also calmed her. Her friend was stronger than anyone expected. They hugged for one last time before Rebekah vanished.

It was inevitable to say goodbye to Elijah now. She probably had mere minutes left. Slowly, she walked towards him. His back was facing her, he stared into the sky. The stars were shining brightly down to them.

"You now what is quite ironic? I have only a few minutes left, I have to say goodbye to everyone and I love...and yet all I did was telling lies. And now I'm afraid to even look you in the eyes, because it'll make me realize that in half an hour I'm dead."

Elijah's back tensed while she spoke. Tears swam in his eyes. He wanted to be strong for her so badly. But he couldn't. To her he couldn't lie. He couldn't hide his weakness.

"I'm sorry, Elijah. I'm sorry that you'll have to do this, I know I..."

Before she could finish this nonsense, he rushed in front of her and silenced her with a kiss. He captured her lips fully and he put every emotion he had boiling inside him into it. Grace was overwhelmed by all the love, pain and grief that she felt washing over her. She grabbed the fabric of his suit jacket and held onto it as if her life depended onto it. Well, it actually did.

It was such a bittersweet moment. They loved each other so deeply, so intensely, it felt like nothing could break them apart. Only death could. Maybe this was their last kiss. Some time before she would've said that she was perfectly ok with this as their final moment.

But things definitely had changed. Some time ago she wouldn't have though that the charming, elegant historian was the love of her life.

"I don't want to die."

She suddenly blurted out. It was the first truth she spilled since she found out that Alaric killed Nik. Elijah pulled away and looked her in the eyes with an unreadable expression. Tears were close to fall down his perfect cheeks.

"It's what I lied about. I told them that it's ok. That I'm ready. That I'm already dead. That I'll watch over all of you. How pathetic is that?"

It was time for her to cry now, because she knew it was ok to be sad. In front of him she could be weak. She could trust him that in the last moments of her life, she could be the person she really was.

He placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her to his chest, simply letting her cry for some time. They sunk down to the ground that was covered by countless leaves. She sat on his lap as he leaned his back against a tree. He rested his head against the bark and looked down to her.

"We didn't have enough time...I seriously don't understand it. Something like what we have...it's nothing that happens every day. And still, we had nothing but obstacles in our way. I turned into a vampire. You laid daggered in a box for months. And now I'm simply dying! I didn't sign up for this! When I woke up and knew that I'm a blood sucking psychopath, at least I thought that I could be with you forever now. Damn, you lived for a thousand years! And I don't deserve twenty four and less than a year with you?"

Elijah stayed silent and listened to her outburst. She was completely right. It wasn't fair. Grace had every right to live a life. Without vampires in her life, she probably would've went back to her studies again. She would've partied and would've had multiple flings. Maybe she would've married and have children. Maybe she would've become a successful historian. Or a housewife. Or something entirely else.

But would she have been happy? The was a part in Elijah that still wanted to make him believe that she was better off without him. That she wouldn't be dying if he never had given into the temptation of the beautiful, strong, compassionate, stunning young woman in front of him. If they never fell in love, she could've had a good life. But Grace chose differently.

She herself was sure that she would've hated to live an ordinary life. She didn't regret anything. Especially not choosing to love Elijah.

"Yes, we didn't have enough time. Because a thousand years with you wouldn't have been enough. But be sure, every moment I spend with you were the happiest of my life."

He said just the right thing. His words were filled with sadness, but they were also genuine in a way that made it even more tragic. Of course he didn't want to let her go. Would he ever be able to move on from what he lost today? She hoped so, but it wasn't likely.

It was then when she started to feel it. Death. She felt coldness creeping up from her toes and fingertips up towards her heart. The muscle started to pump unbelievingly fast, as if it desperately tried to keep the inevitable away. She fought. Her whole body fought a battle against the black ugliness of death she could never win.

Her lungs started to ache and she felt blood coming up her throat before she coughed it out chokingly. Desperately she looked at Elijah. She was so afraid. Fear took a tight grip on her body.

She saw tears running down Elijah's face. He just held her. There wasn't anything he could do. The Original would've given his life to save hers. But it wasn't possible. He was doomed to have an eternity without his brother and the woman he truly loved.

"Elijah...I...I..."

Grace wasn't able to speak her last words. She was dead before. Her skin turned grey and she fell limb into his arms.

The bloodcurdling scream that escaped Elijah could be heard throughout the woods. It was a sound of the purest pain. A pain that left over a broken man.

 _Have you said 'I love you' to everyone that you care for?_

No, Grace did not.


	45. Chapter 45

_What happens after you die?_

 _How will it feel?_

Grace was fairly certain that she knew what would happen afterwards. Since Jeremy could see ghosts, they had quite the idea of what happened after a vampire, or other supernatural creature died. At least to the tainted souls with unfinished business. Grace definitely fell into the category. She was sure that she would roam the world, watching her loved ones, which could be quite torturous. Especially when it came to Elijah. She didn't want him to stay frozen in time and never love again, but her own selfishness made her afraid of the day that he would fall in love with someone else.

What she did not imagine was, that she could feel and hear everything around her. Her eyes were closed shut, but if they were opened, she probably could even see. She couldn't move her own body, it was like she was trapped it in it. That was not what she heard. Maybe it would still happen, maybe it took a while until she was pulled out of her body, but this was as claustrophobic as it could get. Panic rose inside her and she tried to scream and fight, but not a muscle in her body moved.

Her body laid limply in Elijah's arms. He sat there for hours. Grace could even feel his salty tears falling on her cheeks. But he did not move a bit and just stared into her desiccated face. Not even he heard her desperate inner screams, even if they had this deep connection. Well, of course, she was dead. At least she thought so.

The sun was already rising when he stood up, cradling her in his arms. He held to her as if she would wake up any time now. When he started walking, Grace felt the unsteady raising and falling of his chest and the light movement of his arms, but she could not see in which direction he moved. If she only could open her eyes...

At first, Elijah didn't know where to go with her body. He wanted to get her home. A vague, ridiculous plan had formed in his head, but for that he needed her body protected. The home that Niklaus had built for them was now completely empty. Elijah had no clue where Rebekah was, Kol never intended to stay, Grace and Niklaus were dead. The nice, pathetic dream of a family had died with them, as the woman Elijah loved was the part that held them together. All hope was lost, now that Elijah had finally seen his brother break out of the circle of torment and paranoia. Elijah himself lost his happiness forever.

He brought her to the Gilbert house. In the moments Grace said goodbye to her siblings, Elijah saw how much they meant to her, even after all that happened. At least until he found a better option to preserve her body, he would leave her corpse with them, so he had time to retrieve his brother's. Only with both of them he could find a way to bring them back. Elijah couldn't even think about the fact that there was a possibility that he would not succeed. What would the ancestors do with the soul of the man, that had hunted and tortured countless witches over his lifetime? And the woman that was important to the whole family that the witches loathed.

Elijah probably would need a coffin to store her in. The thought of it made him nauseous. This morbid habit of Niklaus was something he never wished for Grace. But he had no choice.

All eyes were on him when the Original entered the house. The Salvatore brothers, Elena and Jeremy were gathered in the living room, not sure what to say. Elijah spared a short look at them before he walked upstairs and placed Grace on her bed.

"We need to bury her, Elijah."

Stefan suddenly appeared behind him and stated calmly. Elijah's hands clenched into fists.

"No, we don't."

The Original's voice was cold. He felt Stefan tense behind him, ready to protect every one in this house from the unpredictable force. Elijah was unstable because of Grace's death. The values he honored meant nothing to him now.

"She's dead, Elijah. I'm sorry for your loss, but her family needs to have a proper goodbye."

He spun around and glared furiously at the younger Salvatore.

"Her family?! Who's that? The people downstairs that don't even think of trying to get her back? Because that's why I brought her here. I want you to protect her body until I find my brother. I will revive them. Both of them. Whatever it takes. "

Elijah literally spat the words in Stefan's face. It attracted the attention of the three other persons in the house, who all came rushed upstairs.

"Do you even know that your sister killed Elena and by that turned her into a vampire?"

Jeremy yelled before Stefan could say anything. The Original stared at him with a frown. It couldn't be true. Rebekah wouldn't dare.

His eyes fell onto the exhausted looking doppelgänger. She had a haunted expression, deep blue bags under her eyes. Elena shivered and tried her best to keep away from the ray of sunlight shining through the window.

It was true. Elijah couldn't believe it. But to be honest it wasn't his greatest concern now. He turned back to Grace and leaned down to her.

"Listen to me. I will find a way. I won't give up on you, I give you my word. Just don't go anywhere."

Elijah whispered before he kissed her forehead. He didn't have a clue that she could feel when her lips touched her skin.

His flickered to Jeremy, but his eyes were on his sister's body. Her ghost didn't seem to be present. But still, Elijah had this faint feeling of her presence in the room. But it probably was just wishful thinking.

"You will not touch her. If I even have the faintest suspicion of you moving her body, I will end your lives."

His voice was at its darkest and his eyes didn't give any hesitation away. At first, they all stood still and didn't move, but then Elena stepped forward and looked the Original vampire in the eyes and nodded. That was enough for now. The doppelgänger really seemed to have understood that Elijah loved her sister with all of his heart. It made him feel worse about what happened to Elena.

Rebekah found her brother some time later in the place they should call home. Has it ever really been? Actually, it was the symbol for the destruction of the Mikaelson family. Two of their brothers died in this town. Their newest member saw a way too early fate here. This was more of a fragile glass house that came crushing down on them.

She barely could recognize him. Her usually so neat, tight up, elegant brother laid on the couch with his shoes on, a bottle of scotch half emptied in his hand, another empty one next to him. His expensive suit was dirty. He got rid of his tie, the upper buttons were ripped off and nowhere to be found, as if his hands couldn't care to such precise matters as unbuttoning a shirt. Rebekah immediately saw why. His hands were trembling, it made the amber liquid in the bottle sway. She never had seen her brother other than in his reserved, restrained manner. To be honest it frightened her to see him this upset. Even after Celeste died he had behaved different. He had withdrawn himself and grew colder, but he always kept himself together for the family. But Grace was different to him. She made him into a better man, he never had looked so happy before. In addition to that, there wasn't much family left to protect anymore.

Because of the Gilbert girl he had seen a future for himself. A purpose outside finding Niklaus' redemption. Now they were both gone.

"That's not what she wanted, Elijah."

Her older brother's attention shifted to her shortly, but he quickly adverted his gaze. An expression of rage was visible in his eyes.

"She probably also didn't want you to kill her sister. Her blood. Still, you did."

The grim expression on his face deepened. He raised the bottle towards her, mockingly cheerful. Rebekah sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You're drunk."

It took a lot of alcohol to get an Original into the state Elijah was currently in.

All of a sudden, he stood in front of her, intimidatingly close. The blonde knew about his much darker side. But never had he shown it in front of her. She had to admit that she grew afraid of this unpredictable version of her brother. The loss had done unrepairable damage to him. But Rebekah had made a promise to Grace. She had seen it coming. This girl knew Elijah better than anyone else. Hopefully she wasn't watching right now.

"Drunk enough to not find out that you murdered Elena Gilbert? She's in transition, Rebekah. How shall we shrug off this guilt, sister? How shall I pay respect to the woman I love, knowing that my own sister killed a part of her family?"

He shouted the last words right into her face.

"I don't care, Elijah! I promised her to keep you from changing into a monster! She held you and Nik together and now it's my duty to do something for my big brother and you won't let me! I didn't kill Elena because of revenge. Elijah, I killed her to get rid of Alaric and it worked! I'm sick of running and I won't let you get killed, too. You're all I have left, Elijah!"

Her words came through to him, but still he couldn't forgive her yet, because he himself had made a promise. He didn't get the chance to give it to Grace, but still he vowed to have a watchful eye on her family. Again he failed.

"I will bring them back, Rebekah. Then it's your burden to tell her what you've done. That's the greatest punishment that you can receive, because you know that she won't forgive you."

He hissed through gritted teeth.

"...And I don't want to be saved. She was my future. It will never be the same again."

With a force that made his younger sister flinch, Elijah threw the bottle against a wall, shattering into pieces. He spared a long glance at her, before he stormed out of the house.

What Grace witnessed was pure torment. Being trapped in your own body, without a clue how to end this, could mess with one's sanity. Was that what the Mikaelson's felt like when they were daggered? Was that the content of Nik's last few moments?

Still there was no sign of her awakening as a ghost. Something was wrong. She was stuck in her body and she couldn't make anyone aware.

It got even worse when she heard mumbling from downstairs. She tried to concentrate her senses on hearing it properly, but before she could try, men stormed into her room with guns and stakes in their hands. Like in a really bad horror movie.

"It's Grace Gilbert. She's dead."

Someone shouted down the stairs. Grace knew that voice. It was Thomas, one of her class mates. The crush of every girl. But not Grace's. He had been the worst of them. That guy started the bullying towards 'Creepy Gracie' when they were fourteen. Actually it started because Grace didn't let him get into her pants after a bonfire party. He was within the group of boys when this one time it got physical. She remembered the one time when she fought back. That time when she came back home with a black eye. It still was inside her, the feeling of being a victim. Of starting to believe that it was all her fault. She hated herself for a time. Until school was finally over.

Oh, how much she would love to sink her fangs into him and suck him dry.

But she didn't get the chance to. Of course it was him that had to throw her over his shoulder roughly and carry her god knows where. She would've loved to rip his hands off simply for touching her.

Grace had sworn to herself that she never would be a victim again. Maybe that was why she had this attraction to kill ruthlessly. But now she was defenseless again, at the mercy of vampire hating people. She hated it. On the inside, she was fuming with rage, but her stupid body simply stayed dead.

Judging from their conversations, those were council members and policemen, led by Pastor Young. Another figure from her old life. She knew him and his daughter since forever.

"What are you doing with her?"

Elena asked upset when they arrived the Young Farm. Thomas dumped her on the floor in the house.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Elena. But that wasn't your sister anymore."

Oh, as if he knew her before. She would so enjoy ripping them all apart.

Hopefully he wouldn't find out that Elena was in transition. Grace herself was still not over the fact and better wouldn't think about the consequences, but she overheard a conversation between the Salvatores and Elena. They wanted to find a way through magic to bring her back as a human. It was pathetic. She surprisingly was on Damon's side in this. Elena died, there was no going back. Now they paid the price. Her sister had no access to blood here.

She felt so bad for Elena. That girl wasn't born to be a vampire. She would need help with it and to be honest there was no one around that could properly teach her something. Grace also learnt it the hard way, but Elena was different. More sensitive. And in the end even Grace had help. Elijah taught her how to survive and Nik showed her that living as a vampire was beyond human borders. Elena just had a pair of crazy brothers. One a ripper, the other one so selfish that he could never be a good teacher.

"You're wrong. There are good vampires out there. You knew Grace since she was a child. She didn't deserve this."

Tears were obvious in her voice. Those words from Elena Gilbert's mouth. She really must be grieving.

"She sided with the Original vampires, child. The sister you knew would be happy to be put out of her misery."

How wrong he was. The old Grace had died, yes, but she wasn't a completely different person. She fell in love with Elijah when she was human. Grace cared for her human family. There was still humanity left in her.

As her rage started boil over, something changed. Her fingers started to twitch. Like they were finally obeying her again. What was happening? Then, a wave of something undefinable happened and she felt the cold grasp of death vanish from her heart. She felt her skin turn back into its normal color. Her formerly dead heart started racing again.

Air filled her lungs. She would've loved to keep it hidden for another while as the pastor and Elena were still arguing, but it took her by too much force. With a gasp, she sat up, making both her sister and the newbie vampire hunter jump.

They both looked at her shocked, eyes wide as saucers.

"Grace!"

Elena brought out, but Grace was too distracted by trying to breathe to really hear her younger sister. After the first breath, there was no air left to inhale. She grabbed her throat and her reflexes tried it again, but she simply couldn't breathe.

She wasn't invited in.

That must be exactly how Elijah felt after she undaggered him in the Salvatore's cellar. God, that felt like so long ago. With every strength she had, she rushed to the door and knocked against an invisible wall. At least the pastor was too startled to take action immediately. She got out of the door, but stumbled onto the grass covered floor. When she looked up, she saw Thomas grinning down to her. The handle of his gun came down to her head and knocked her out again.

But she was alive. She was breathing, blood was pumping through her body. How was this possible?

"She's alive."

Elena's voice was the first she heard after she woke up again. Her head hurt like hell, but she could still move, so this probably wasn't just a game her mind played with her.

"How can this be?"

Stefan whispered back. Grace coughed and sat up. Her sister rushed to the bars that kept her inside. It was like a kennel for dogs. Elena and Stefan were opposite her, next to her was Rebekah. She couldn't look her friend in the eyes right now, so Grace concentrated on her sister.

"Have they found out that you're in transition?"

Her voice was rough, but it seemed like a miracle that she really could communicate. Grace couldn't really believe it herself.

"How do you know that I'm..."

"I heard everything while I was in this...state. Seriously, I have no clue what is going on."

She gave Elena a little smile, but it faded when she saw in which state her sister was. The doppelgänger needed blood. Immediately. She would die if she wouldn't complete the transition. But not today. Grace raised from the dead, so they would find a way to help Elena.

"He's alive, Grace. I saw him. He's another body, but it's him."

Rebekah spoke, holding onto the bars tightly and staring down to her friend. Grace only spared a short glance and couldn't hide the relief that Nik was still walking the earth, but she quickly looked down again. It was exactly the reaction Elijah had predicted.

"Have you seen him?"

The blonde nodded. A little stream of air came into the barn and it drove more vervain into their airways which made the three vampires cough roughly. Grace slid down the wall behind her.

"He...He tried to prevent this, but he only left with Caroline. 'Keep 'em busy little sister' he said."

Both women couldn't help but snort amused. It really must've been Nik. Those were his words and actions.

"Can't tell you didn't deserve it, Beks."

Stefan and Elena watched the exchange warily. But deep down Elena knew that Grace wasn't ok with Rebekah killing her. She saw it in her sister's eyes. Grace didn't want to be angry with Rebekah, but what she did was too much.

"I tried to save our family, Gracie! Like I promised you. I thought you were dead, don't you understand?"

Grace shook her head. She had more important matters to attend to than fighting with Rebekah.

"Don't you dare pull me into this. You killed my little sister, did you really think I was ok with that?"

She hissed through gritted teeth, trying hard to not let the anger cloud her mind.

"Can you please save the family drama for later?"

Stefan said annoyedly, to which Rebekah wanted to reply something snarky. Grace lifted her hand to silence her.

"For once, he's right. First, we need to get Elena blood. Second, we have to figure out a way to get outta here."

The young vampire knew she was stating the obvious, but someone needed to be in charge here. Well, she was the only oldest sibling in this, so she was used to that.

"And how do you wanna do that?"

The younger Salvatore looked at her angrily. But still, she could see hope in his eyes. He was frightened for Elena's life, but at least he knew that Grace too would do anything to save her.

"I don't know yet... Where's Elijah?"

She directed the question towards Rebekah. Since he had left her in the Gilbert house, she hadn't heard anything from him again, which was quite unusual for Elijah.

"No clue. He vanished after giving me the same goddamn speech you just did. He wanted to find a way to bring you and Nik back."

Of course he would. He promised it to her wannabe dead body. Maybe that was his greatest weakness after all. He cared too much. Elijah couldn't live without his family.

Sighing, Grace tried her best to examine the barn. The spaces between the bars were big enough to get her slim arm through it. That was an advantage.

"Seems like Nik already did that for him."

It was then when some pieces to the puzzle came into the right order. Nik was never dead. He wasn't in his body when he was killed. Which meant he body jumped, like back then when he took hostage of Alaric's body. That brought the conclusion that he must've had a powerful witch by the side. Still his death had to look convincing, so his confirmed sirelings, Tyler and Grace had to look dead, too.

"That bastard..."

She whispered and drew the attention of the others towards her.

"He had a witch that did this desiccating thing on me. That's why it felt and looked like dying. While I had to 'die' in front of you, he jumped into Tyler's body. None of us ever died. It was a trick to lure Alaric away."

A hysterical laugh came upon her lips and she tried hard to muffle it. It mixed with all the pain, fear and torture that she felt in the last few hours and a sickening nausea took over her. She fought the tears.

"I can't believe it."

Rebekah whispered.

It was the hardest for Grace to pull herself together again. But she reminded herself of her mission, that Elena was running out of time. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind.

"Play along."

She looked all of them before she started to make some noises.

"Hey! Hello! Thomas, come here, we need to talk!"

Grace rattled at the bars and fortunately, her victim obeyed.

"Shut up, bloodsucker."

He peeked inside and Grace gave her best show. She pressed herself against the cool metal and did her best seduction face. From many occasions before she became a vampire, she mastered it to perfection.

"Don't you remember good, old Gracie? You know, the one you always found hot but could never get?"

Flashing him a breathtaking smile, she let her fingers glide down the bars. The man's ego kicked in and he walked closer to the vampire confidently. That was his greatest mistake. He just had to come an inch closer. Grace felt her fangs lengthen.

"How unfortunate for you that you didn't stay dead. I will so enjoy killing you slowly in front of your boyfriends eyes, before staking him and making half the population of you monsters extinct."

It lit Grace's temper and she grabbed the bars tighter, but her sweet face didn't give anything away. His eyes stalked over her body and lingered at her chest. Thomas held up his shotgun and tipped her chin with the top of it.

Her reflexes acted before she could even think of it. Grace grabbed the barrel of the gun and hit it with all the force she could bring up against his chest. It made him stumble and in the exact right moment, she dropped the gun and took a hold of his neck. Unfortunately she couldn't reach his throat with her mouth, but instead she dug her nails hard into the place where his carotid artery was and ripped it open until blood sprayed all over her face.

Because she was merciful, she hit his head hard against the bars so he would pass out and then pushed him right in front of Elena's cell, so she could reach the blood.

"Well, that was bad ass."

The blonde Original said impressed and pulled up her brows. Grace ignored it and simply watched how a terribly weakened Elena dipped her fingers into the fresh blood. Her sister gave her weak smile.

"I'm glad you're back."

She whispered before she completed her transition. Veins appeared around the doppelgänger's dark eyes.

Grace sighed and looked away. Elena would survive this, but it would be hard.

Before she could think more deeply about it, another chain of events settled in front of the prisoners. After hearing the noise Grace made by killing Thomas, more of Young's men came running to the barn.

They too didn't last for long.

His way of killing was like a signature. A unique, bloody handwriting. Before anyone could even make out the slightest movement, the two men in the last row of the group disappeared. Only a whoosh of air could be heard.

With slurpy a thud, their hearts fell to the ground seconds after. The men looked around horrified, trying to make out the attacker, but there was no one to be seen.

The first Grace saw of him was his broad back. When the policemen turned back around, his hands, the hands that could be so gentle, that touched her so often, that could make her feel like she was the most precious being in this world, teared through fabric, bones and flesh and ripped the beating, bleeding hearts out.

"Sister, what have you gotten your-..."

He turned around while speaking. His gaze fell onto Rebekah, but also looked around shortly to check who was in here, too. Then, his eyes paused at her face and the words faded into thin air.

"Elijah."

Her voice nearly made him faint. Was this a dream? He couldn't remind falling asleep. Killing these men felt to real. Her presence was too real. Her voice sounded clear, like the purest music to his ears.

Elijah couldn't stop staring at her. As if in trance, he walked towards her. His hands grabbed her through the thick bars. Her skin, it was a little cool, but it had its normal, lightly tanned color. Her fingers produced the same tingling sensation they always did.

He couldn't find the right words. Elijah was afraid to destroy the moment by speaking. They simply held onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Both of them knew what was going on in the other's head. There were no words needed or possible to describe how they felt.

They didn't even notice Damon coming in and asking how it was possible that Grace was breathing again.

"Um, aren't you guys interested in getting out of here?"

Damon said in his usual sarcastic manner, after he checked on Elena.

"Shh!"

Both Rebekah and Elena shushed the older Salvatore and continued watching the heart-wrenching reunion unfolding in front of them.

Thanks for all your praise on the last chapter! It was one of the most intense to write, the first time I cried while writing. I'm really glad you guys liked it!


	46. Chapter 46

The world seemed to have new, brighter colors when she walked out of that barn. Elijah was gently stabilizing her, wrapping an arm around her waist, but she wasn't feeling weak. Her bod was tired and thirsted for blood, but the thought that she was alive again, that the chance to live a happy life, gave her so much energy. In the face of just jumping off death's edge, it all felt so easy.

"You look shitty."

Grace said bluntly, but grinned. She wrapped her arms around Elijah's neck. Chuckling, he pulled her close, still not really believing that he held her in his arms again.

"I thought you were dead, Grace. Do you really think it struck my mind to clean up nicely?"

Shaking her head, she pressed her lips onto his, not caring if the others were still around. Elijah closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the feeling of her lips against his. Hearing her breathe just became the essence of his life.

"We both should shower. Immediately."

She whispered before taking his hand and walking towards their home. Rebekah seemed to have left on her own, so the last reunion that had to be made was about to take place without her.

Nik stood in the living room, staring at nothing in particular. He turned around when he heard his best friend rip the door wide open. Tears pooled in her eyes again, but the wide, stunningly cheerful smile spread on her face again.

With an whoosh of air, she rushed to the hybrid and hugged him, nearly knocking him off his feet. Nik chuckled and immediately returned the embrace. He lightly padded her back, happy that she brought him this warm welcome. It made him feel important and he was relieved to see that his siblings and Grace were happy to see him alive.

When they pulled back, Grace suddenly slapped Nik right across the face. A loud smack sounded and he felt the skin of his cheek throbbing shortly. Still, she probably hurt herself more. His smile faded and an annoyed, but surprised expression came to surface.

Elijah flinched, his instincts telling him to get in between his brother and the woman he loved. But then he remembered that Grace Gilbert was the only person on this planet that could do that and not get her heart ripped out.

"Was this stunt really necessary, Nik? I really thought you and I are pushing up daisies from now on."

Nik rubbed his cheeks and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I deserved that."

Grace couldn't hide her smile, but before she turned around, she stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, and of course it was for ditching your sister and letting her be tortured. To be honest you deserve another slap for that. But that's something Beks can do herself."

The hybrid chuckled and Grace watched the short, but caring hug between Elijah and Nik. It was good to see the brothers of peace. Those two men...they were so complicated.

"Well, what's next?"

Grace asked. It seemed to easy that for a moment everything was alright. With the Mikaelson family there never was a really long time of peace and laying back.

Rough days laid behind Grace, Elijah and Nik. For once, there weren't any life threatening actions happening, but still they were very exhausting.

Grace found a new project in helping Elena learn to feed. She maybe wasn't the best role model, but Grace was the only vampire in her nearer circle that was outside the sensitive Salvatore zone, not judging and most importantly neither using bunnies or blood bags as her main source of food. Damon supported her also in this, which made them quite successful in making Elena feed without killing anyone. Still, there was something off about her feeding habits. Which vampire couldn't keep blood from a blood bag in?

Since Nik and Elijah found this hunter and his connection to the cure, the brothers bonded for the task ahead. They all had the same goal: turning Elena back into a human. All of them had different reasons, of course, but that wasn't too much of a problem.

When the plan got further, Grace and Elijah chose to join Nik in finding the hunter's sword in Italy. They were in desperate need of some time off. Maybe they weren't completely on their own, but they still it was better than in the middle of Mystic Falls, where trouble never ended and they never got any time for themselves.

Rebekah took off the night before they wanted to leave. At least that was what Nik told them. Of course it stroke both Grace and Elijah odd, but they had to put some trust into Nik for once. He had no reason to pull off something stupid, didn't he?

The days they spent in Italy was a glimpse of the future to come. It's what she imagined when a time would come where she was free of any family duty. She wanted to travel and explore, maybe even settle down somewhere and enjoy eternity with the man she loved.

To be honest, Nik did most of the work surveilling the workers to dig out the sword. Grace and Elijah spent hours together, simply enjoying their love, discussing not important matters and drinking amazing wine. Far away from all this chaos, life felt so much easier.

Of course it didn't stay like that for long. But that's not what they expected. It was a little vacation and the couple swore to each other that they would take a time out more often. Sometimes it was ok to be selfish, to do something for themselves.

In the morning, Nik stormed into their hotel room without knocking. Grace was just enjoying the view of Elijah getting dressed to get them some food, while she stayed in bed for another while.

"Gracie, get up. We need to go."

She pulled up her brows and shot her friend an annoyed look. He had this habit of intruding their intimate moments.

"I'm naked, Nik. Get out."

Grace said while trying to hide her grin. Nik rolled his eyes and stood in front of the huge bed, ignoring that Elijah was shooting metaphorical daggers into his head.

"Do I look like I care? It's urgent. One of my hybrids got killed while trying to kill the hunter and your sister actually finished the job."

He growled through gritted teeth. Dead hunters and hybrids were a sensitive subject to the Original.

The young vampire's eyes widened and both she and Elijah now shifted their whole attention towards Nik. He had briefly told Grace about the hunter's curse and now Elena was infected by it. She wasn't strong enough to handle something that made Klaus Mikaelson want to kill himself.

Like the gentleman he was, Elijah handed her underwear and a shirt so she wouldn't have to jump out of bed butt naked.

"It's ok. Go. I'll pay attention that everything concludes smoothly here and I'll join you tomorrow."

Elijah said before gently stroking Grace's cheek. He knew that she was worried about her sister. Even tough every one knew that after all the injustice Elena had shown towards her older sister, the Original could understand. He had a thousand years of similar history.

They exchanged a short glance.

"Thank you."

Grace whispered before she pulled her boyfriend down and kissed him sweetly. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Nik advert his gaze. But not in awkward manner, he looked quite angered. It was something that stroke Grace odd for some days now. He always seemed to get rather grim whenever his brother and Grace showed the slightest hint of affection for each other, even if they were just holding hands. She knew Nik well enough to see that something was wrong. But that wasn't the most urgent matter right now.

After a relatively silent, comfortable first class flight back to Virginia, they arrived back in their hometown. They directly went to the Lockwood mansion where all the hybrids had gathered. All of them had started to drink and it figured that it was that kind of wake where everyone got drunk.

Grace felt heavily uncomfortable in between the wolves, so she decided she simply had to drown it in a lot of Bourbon, too. Soon after, she laid across a sofa, the bottle rarely leaving her mouth. Nik sat next to her, her legs in his lap, seeming quite grumpy despite the amounts of alcohol he drank. Grace herself couldn't care less about one more dead hybrid, but for Nik they were important, so she stood by him.

Tyler joined the group with a girl Grace hasn't yet seen. She frowned when she examined her and the girl seemed to get quite uncomfortable under her gaze. Grace had this effect on people.

Nik stood up to bicker with Tyler and the young vampire's head fell back with a groan. Way too much alpha male testosterone for one room. Grace had thought it was bad while Elijah and Nik fought, but it got even worse between to wolves.

Caroline came in to interrupt it like a force sent from heaven.

"Nikky, Blondie's coming in, time to be the good guy again."

It made the hybrids chuckle light. Nik on the other shot a glare over his shoulders.

"I hate you when you're drunk, Gracie."

"Love ya, too."

"Seriously, my brother lets you loose for one night and here you are, tipping over the edge wherever you can."

"Has anyone told you that you're such a buzzkill? Because of you I won't get any action with your lovely brother tonight, so let me at least get properly drunk."

A row of 'ew's erupted and Grace chuckled viciously. In contrary to Elijah she never was shy to scatter some way too intimate details to scare people off.

"Can't you take your bickering outside?!"

Suddenly, the girl next to Tyler chirped in. Her tone was way too disrespectful for Grace's liking. She sped in front of her and looked the werewolf in the eyes.

"Who put you in charge?"

The girl stared back at her without hesitation. Brave.

"Listen, we're mourning our friend here. I know you couldn't care less, so be quiet and drink, or leave."

Grace chuckled amused, her gaze ice cold.

"You seem to be new here, aren't you? I'm warning you for once, wolf girl, I have quite the reputation. I like killing for fun and I don't even have to bother about your wolfey friends here, because I'm the best protected vampire in town. Just a tip: be careful who you got on your bad side."

With that, Grace flashed her a calculating smile and declared the conversation over. Still, she got a lingering impression of the wolf girl. Her instincts were trying to tell her something, but she couldn't really grasp what. There was something special about her, but she couldn't lay her finger on it.

"What was that about?"

Nik whispered when she stepped to her side. She threw a short glance over the shoulder without the female werewolf noticing and frowned again.

"Nothing. Just paranoia. Can we leave?"

The hybrid looked at her confused, but nodded.

The next stop on their tour through Mystic Falls was the Gilbert home. Grace didn't know why, but every time she saw the house she grew up in, a chill ran down her spine. Maybe bad juju.

Nik spoke to Stefan about the hunter's curse on the phone right when they arrived on the doorstep. Of course Stefan wouldn't let them in, so the younger Salvatore came out of the door and looked at both the hybrid and the younger vampire angrily.

"This would be much more civilized if you'd invite us in."

Grace shrugged.

"Well, I can just walk in and grab her."

Stefan shot her a glare, which Grace returned with a vicious smile.

"Don't you dare, Grace."

Both Nik and the oldest Gilbert chuckled at his anger.

"Seems we hit quite the sensitive spot, didn't we, Gracie? Well, back to business. I killed the original five hunters, which makes me quite the expert. Keeping a hunter from fulfilling his duty had quite the consequence. Death won't keep Connor from making Elena his last vampire kill."

Stefan frowned and looked at Nik, not sure if he should trust the hybrid. But why would Klaus lie? They had the same goal in this.

"She needs our help, Stef. We can lock her up, keep her away from any possibility to kill herself."

Grace spoke up, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"She's strong. There's no need to make her a prisoner."

Both Nik and Grace rolled their eyes at his inability to listen.

"Stronger than something that made this stubborn bastard want to kill himself?"

Nik nudged her for her stubborn words. But before Stefan could reply anything, Elena stumbled out of the house, looking frightened and deeply exhausted. The hybrid reacted quicker than anyone else, rushed to Elena, grabbed her and then they were gone.

Damon followed shortly after and both brothers glared at Grace in rage. She bit her lip trying to hide her grin and shrugged before she sped off, too.

When she arrived, Elena and Nik were in one of the windowless cellar rooms, which still carried quite the luxury for a cell.

She listened in to what Nik told her sister about his fifty-two years with the curse upon him and Grace felt the immediate urge to hug him tightly. But she also felt her heart hurt when she walked around the corner and saw the state Elena was in. She was pain and looked generally awful. Psychic pain could drive to whole other dimensions than physical pain ever could.

"Please, don't let me be locked up here. Grace, I can fight this."

Elena pleaded and Grace swallowed the lump in her throat and got the tough girl mask up again.

"It's for your best, 'Lena. We can't risk that you'll kill yourself."

"Don't worry, there's torture worse than this. Just spend some days living with my brother and her. A whole new definition of lovesick fools, believe me."

Grace elbowed Nik and he chuckled.

"Hallucinations come in quite surprising forms, love. Have fun."

The friends backed out of the room which was locked behind them by one of the hybrid minions.

Nik walked off to somewhere else, while Grace decided to go up to her and Elijah's shared bedroom and rest a bit. She finally found the time to read one of her favorite books again. But it wasn't long before she heard noises from downstairs and she rushed back down, only to be knocked down with one hard blow by her sister. Elena vanished and Grace was stunned in surprise. She urgently needed some training, it was quite embarrassing that her little sister could take her out that easily.

Confused, she ran deeper into the cellar only to find no hybrid present and an impaled Stefan. With gritted teeth, she ripped out the pole from his stomach.

"You're so unbelievable stupid, you know that, do you?"

She mumbled while she pulled out her phone to call Nik.

"Scooby gang let Elena out. Where are you?"

A low growl was to be heard and the hybrid mumbled some insults.

"I can't leave anyone alone for a minute..."

Grace opened her mouth to scold him, but Caroline's upset voice suddenly sounded through the speaker.

"We know how to end the curse. If the next potential hunter kills his first vampire, it'll stop."

"And where should we get a potential hunter before Elena burns herself in the sun? In my case it took 52 years."

Nik said annoyedly.

"Jeremy is one."

The blonde stated and Grace nearly dropped her phone. Could this family not be normal for once?

"No, no. Not an option."

Where they even thinking clearly? This Connor person was hell bent on killing every vampire that came in his way, he was bat shit crazy. Jeremy had two vampires as sisters. They never could return to normal again.

"I'll pick you up in sec, Gracie."

Nik ended the call afterwards and a minute later he was back in the estate.

"Are you hurt?"

Worry was obvious in his eyes and Grace sighed before shaking her head.

"Caroline asked me to sacrifice a hybrid, so your brother can activate the hunter's gene."

She shook her head and drove her hand through her long hair nervously.

"What did you ask for in return?"

He shrugged and smiled a little.

"A date with her."

Grace couldn't help but laugh. It was nearly hysterical but still it got a bit of tension off her.

"Are you serious?"

Nik nudged her to stop her from making fun of him, but she simply couldn't.

"Yes, I am. I like her, you know that."

"If you ever call me and Elijah lovesick again, I'll remind you of this moment."

Rolling his eyes, he placed a hand on her back to make her move outside. It brought Grace back to reality.

"I'm not ok with letting my brother get involved in this. Damn, Nik, he's seventeen. Do you think he can handle killing someone and with that make him into a vampire killing machine?"

He sighed and stopped t make her look at him.

"Gracie, we don't have time for this. Elena's god knows where, if Jeremy doesn't do this now, she'll kill herself. Do you want that? I'll let you choose."

Her life has become one massive decision between to evils, two options that all had miserable disadvantages. She didn't reply anything and just continued walking towards the Gilbert home as an answer.

When they arrived there, she knocked on the door.

"Do you think I also would've been one those potentials if you hadn't turned me into a vampire?...Jeremy Gilbert open the goddamn door!"

The last remark she yelled.

"Probably. Imagining that is quite funny. But hot, too."

He chuckled when she slapped his arm in response.

"I find it creepy. Potential vampire hunter and now a proud vampire."

Finally Jeremy opened the door.

"Ready to kill a vampire?"

An hour later, it was finally over. Jeremy killed that hybrid, while the wolf girl screamed from the top of her lungs and Elena was free off the tormenting hallucinations.

Grace was awake for nearly forty-eight hours when she fell into the large bed. She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples in order to get rid of the throbbing, stress caused headache. When she picked up her phone, she noticed that she had received a text.

 _I'm at the airport now, which means I'll see you in less than ten hours. Those days with you here were beautiful, I'm looking forward to make such treasures into everyday life. Sleep well, my love._

 _-E_

Grace literally could hear his voice in her head. A smile spread across her face before she leaned her head back into the pillow and fell asleep peacefully.


	47. Chapter 47

"Good morning."

Elijah's soft voice sounded through the veil of her dreams. His lips then lightly pressed onto hers. She at first was a bit confused and thought that she was still dreaming because she was sure that when she fell asleep Elijah wasn't at her side. But when he tried to pull away, she groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

Then she remembered that he must've arrived in the middle of the night and she was so deeply asleep that she didn't even notice.

"Hi."

She whispered and she wanted to pull him on top of her, as she had no intention to leave the bed. But Elijah just chuckled.

"I don't want to spill coffee over you, my love, so would you mind if I just set them down?"

Grace blinked a few times and looked down to his hands in which he held two steaming cups of coffee. It unfortunately made her wake up completely and she fell back into the pillow with a sigh.

"You know you're spoiling me, don't you?"

The smile never disappeared from his face when he sat down on the mattress beside her.

"Maybe I like it."

He caressed her cheek and Grace caught his hand and kissed his knuckles. It was breathtakingly amazing to feel his warmth again. She had to admit that she still grew anxious from time to time when she knew that he wasn't around. It was pathetic, but it made her realize how much she cared for him.

"Don't complain if I get used to it."

"I will never complain about you, Miss Gilbert."

Grace laughed.

"Oh, I wonder if you'll still say that in a few years. I can get quite annoying."

Elijah's smile widened before his thumb stroked her soft lower lip. Grace was tempted to bite it playfully, but instead she grabbed his tie and pulled him back down to her and let her lips crash onto his. They hungrily kissed each other and just as she wanted to wrap her legs around his narrow hips, something crossed her mind and she ended the kiss with desperate grown. Cursing, she sat up and pushed a really confused looking Elijah back so she could stand up.

"That goddamn beauty pageant is today. Carol asked me to be a judge. Just for you to know, you're my date."

She leaned down to fix his tie before she rushed into the dressing room to find a proper dress.

"I'm honored."

Elijah said shaking his head chuckling. Sometimes she was so messy that it made his neat, tight up world shake from the insides. It made him see things differently and he loved it.

...

They literally waltzed down the stairs to the garden of the Lockwood estate. Grace walked arm in arm with the both Mikaelson brothers in her simple, light rose dress and for the first time she noticed that heads were turning to them, like they were some sort of royalty. Well, they probably were, but just for vampires. They also caught the attention of the humans standing around.

Niks attention was fixated on Caroline when he caught side of her, to which Grace smiled. She nightly nudged the hybrids arm.

"Behave."

She said with an amused warning. Nik pulled his brows up and looked down to her.

"I would never dare to misbehave, my lady."

Grace coughed to hide a laughed and let her gaze follow her friend as she slowly strutted along with Elijah. It was obvious in Caroline's face that she was falling for Nik, even tough she did not want to. But sometimes love did quite differ from sense.

"She's good for him."

Elijah seemed to have the same thought as her. He examined the crowd of people around him, he was just used to that on social events. They might have lost a lot of importance throughout the last century, but still they held some significance for vampires that wanted to blend into society.

"Yes, she is. I mean, I know Caroline since she's a child and hell, she was quite the brat, but she grew with becoming a vampire. I think that's just what your brother needs. Someone honest."

Grace again felt eyes on here and then she saw Damon, standing next to a dark haired man that was staring bluntly at her and Elijah. His mouth even hung a bit open which made her pull up a brow to which she earned an eye roll from Damon.

"You seem to keep the same traits."

That stranger guy suddenly seemed distracted by something and walked off.

"Don't worry, I have a thing for the older brothers."

Elijah chuckled and lightly squeezed her arm. When she looked up again, she saw that Damon was about to join them.

"Strange that you didn't fell for me then."

The older Salvatore wiggled his eyebrows to which Grace narrowed her eyes at him. She so hated those games.

"Grace. Elijah."

He added in a greeting manner, but didn't receive any emotion from the couple.

"Shouldn't you help my brother kill vampires to fulfill the mark?"

Grace was still bitter about the fact that Jeremy was pulled deeply into this, but she realized that it was inevitable.

The thought of that man that Damon just had spoken to crossed her mind, but she didn't mention it. Damon wouldn't give them any useable information anyways.

"Why don't you bother helping a bit? Or have your Original asses grown to stone?"

The trademark, dangerously cold smile spread on Elijah's face. Grace knew how much he hated it to be insulted by such young vampires, at least in his rating of age. It was fascinating that his controlled composure seemed to even strengthen, while pure brutality was radiating off under the neat surface. That was this kind of thrill that drew Grace even closer to him.

"Damon, just to remind you, by finding the sword, we kept our part of the bargain. Let's not forget that we still carry the mercy to let you all live, despite the fact that we have enough reasons to end you."

The tension grew and all three of them exchanged cold stares, when thankfully Carol's voice flooded the garden.

"Welcome to Miss Mystic Falls."

They turned around to have a look at the small stage.

"Well, that's my cue to find the other judges."

Grace placed a haste kiss on Elijah's cheek before she took off to the judge's table. She was the last one to arrive, but they were all still talking to each other. The young vampire immediately recognized the guy that had been staring at Elijah and her beside her when she sat down.

"Grace Gilbert I presume. My name's Atticus Shane. Shane for short."

He held his hand out to her smiling and Grace looked down to it suspiciously, but then decided not to be too impolite.

"Pleasure."

She mumbled and declared the conversation over. Shane shifted on his stool nervously and Grace spared him a look which made him talk again.

"Do you know that they call you 'the queen'?"

It caught her attention and she frowned. Didn't he have any manners? Still, Grace immediately knew that he wasn't referring to any beauty contest she never had taken part in. The way he stared at them...he had recognized Elijah.

"If that is a really clumsy way to flirt, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm taken."

She lifted her gaze and met Elijah's eyes. Shortly she nodded, assuring him that she was ok.

Shane chuckled and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I mean, it's not a surprise considering your...bond to the Original family. Girlfriend of Elijah Mikaelson. Sidekick of Niklaus Mikaelson. The one that has them all wrapped around your little finger. Your story is infamous, Grace."

Her interest was peaked, she never even considered that the family she joined was actually that famous. But of course they were. They were the first of all vampires, notorious and feared for their ruthlessness. But 'the queen'? Seriously? She wasn't even close to have power over anything.

"Are you implying anything? Or, between all the stories you've caught, haven't you heard that we react quite violent if someone tries to pry in our business?"

Grace's eyes were intimidating and calculating as they bore into Shane's. He paled a bit, but then lifted his hands chuckling to ease the tension.

"I understand."

"Good."

She nodded and turned her attention to Caroline who had started to introduce the contestants. The dance started and Grace kept a wary eye on April Young, the daughter of the pastor that blew up the council. It actually out a lot of problems out of the vampires' lives, but there certainly was more to it. Did this girl know anything? Grace wasn't sure. In the time she spend with the Mikaelsons, she learnt how deeply family bonds could run. Adding that, even the most innocent looking girl could have a hidden agenda in Mystic Falls. Still, she really hoped that April wasn't too deeply involved in this. She was actually a lovely girl.

When the dance ended, she placed her cross in front of the pastor's daughters name. Then, she lifted her gaze and saw a quite awkward scene between Caroline and Elena. She listened in and heard that this was about Damon and that Elena was behaving slightly different from her usual safe. Grace had talked to Nik about this in the airplane and he also thought that was that rare vampire-sirebond thing.

Standing up, she rushed over to the girls when she saw that no knight in shining armor was about to make the girls aware of the scene they were making. Just as she was about to arrive, Elena left Caroline standing, the blonde now center of attention of a lot of curious gazes. Her whole face was obviously showing embarrassment and insecurity, but before it could grow even more awkward, Grace interlaced her arm with the girl's and led her away from tables. She caught Elijah's gaze who was standing at the bar with his brother. Silent communication was going on as Grace's eyes shortly twitched to the stone benches deeper in the park. She was relieved when she saw that he was grabbing a bottle of champagne and moving towards the benches with Nik.

"Thank you."

Caroline whispered, her cheeks still burning red.

"No problem. She'll come around, you know? It's just hard for her to adjust into this life."

Grace then realized how much things have changed. She was the adult know, being there to give the girls advice. The young vampire had grown a lot in the last few months, a sense responsibility developed inside her.

"I completely understand and all, but turning into a vampire doesn't change who you are."

The blonde was desperate, worried about her friend. Elena was lucky to have such caring friends, Caroline wasn't judging, she simply was afraid that her friend would do things she would regret.

"Not always. Just look at you and me. We are completely different persons. If I'm being honest, I wouldn't want to go back to my old self."

The brothers walked a few feet in front of them. She definitely didn't want her old life back. Grace liked being a vampire and especially when she saw Elijah in front of her, she knew that this was her fate.

Caroline seemed to think about her statement and very hesitant to answer.

"Care, none of the others are around. You can say that you like being a vampire. It's ok."

Sighing, Caroline's eyes fixed on Klaus' back. For the first she felt that she was comfortable around the Mikaelsons and Grace was actually really nice. It nearly was a relief to get away from the grim mood of her friends.

"But isn't it sick to like it? I mean...you know...we all know that you have killed...I did too. Still, I'm not feeling guilty anymore. That's not me."

Grace laughed and she saw Elijah looking over his shoulder, sending her a mild smile. She returned it.

"I accepted it, Caroline. Sometimes it's still hard, but I just know that this huge part of me, my vampire nature, is enjoying to kill. That's why I can control it if I want to.. And I think you're the same."

Silence erupted and a frown was plastered on the beauty's face.

"...That's why I can't live with my siblings anymore. They cannot accept that I'm ok with being a vampire, that I'm actually enjoying it. But you know who never judged? Who never tried to make me into someone I'm not? Them."

She motioned towards the brothers in front of her. Caroline followed her gaze and lightly shook her head.

"I understand your point with Elijah. I mean, the way he looks at you...that's just relationship goals."

Both women chuckled.

"...but how have you been able to forgive Klaus? You're the one that suffered the most by his hands."

Grace knew that this wasn't meant as insult, Caroline really wanted to know. She just smiled lightly.

"I think you already have your answer, because you've forgiven him yourself. Caroline, he looks at you the same way Elijah looks at me. Believe me, you have much more power over Nik than I will ever have. I know that you're not ready yet, but your time will come. Just live for a while, give yourself some time before you'll decide to really get to know him."

Her advice really seemed to help the blonde to figure out her feelings. That it was ok to take her time. They were immortal after all, she had plenty of it.

When they arrived at the benches, Grace sat down next to Elijah, while Caroline took a seat next to Nik. Grace leaned her head on Elijah's shoulder and took his hand.

"Those were wise words."

He gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb while they both watched Caroline and Nik. Both were smiling while the hybrid filled them glasses of champagne.

"I've learnt to trust my instincts. And they tell me that she could be his salvation."

They started to amusingly bicker and Nik pulled out a piece of paper that seemed to be her Miss Mystic application and started to read it out loud. Caroline laughed while she tried to fetch it out of his hands.

"Shall we leave them alone for a while?"

Elijah stood up and helped Grace to her feet.

"I think my work here is done."

She chuckled as they started to walk back to the party.

"Do you even know how particularly lovely you are, Miss Gilbert?"

The Original squeezed her hand and Grace felt the strong urge to get home and have a long cuddle session in front of the fireplace with him.

"No, but I could listen to you saying it all day."

They reached a table and Grace saw that just that wolf girl was sitting at it. This Shane guy had just left. She sat down opposite the werewolf who was watching them.

"I'll get us a drink."

Elijah leaned down and turned her chin towards him to steal a short peck before he left. The corners of her mouth curved upwards as she started to rummaging through her purse to find her phone, seeing that she had received multiple texts asking if she knew where Jeremy was. She had been so lost in her thoughts speculating if April Young was a threat that she didn't even notice that her little brother had ditches his date for the dance. She examined the crowd around her, but couldn't find the newbie hunter.

"I kinda envy you."

The brunette opposite her started to speak. Grace lifted her gaze shortly, not implying that she spend any attention on her.

"Why's that?"

Her eyes went back to screen of her phone.

"You know, perfect man, caring, powerful, looks at you like you're the most precious being on this world. And let's not forget the hot suit...He's Klaus' brother, isn't he?"

Her babbling was annoying, because Grace had no clue what she was getting at. Grace already knew that she as lucky to have Elijah. But how was that something to be envious about? Elijah and her deserved to have this kind of love.

"Yes, he is."

She said curtly, impatiently waiting for Elijah to get back here.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm prying. It's just...I never had anyone looking at me like this. I'm Hayley, by the way. Sorry for being a bitch yesterday."

Now she had Grace's attention. She liked that people that had the strength to apologize and her words sounded truthful.

It made Grace spare a closer look at her. Hayley had a wide, honest grin on her face, but it was obvious that she too had experienced much in her young life. She wore a cheap, too tight and too short dress, but still rocked it with confidence.

This girl was herself a year ago. Grace had exactly been like Hayley. She too had been looking for a love that would consume her. She too had behaved like a slut, sleeping with every guy possible, drinking too much. It made Grace grew a little softer for her.

"I'm Grace. You know, Hayley, I was in the same spot as you. I was utterly alone, had no clue what to do with my life. But see, even I found my place. That guy that looks at you that special? He'll come. Just make sure it's not my boyfriend. He's mine."

She winked at her amused, to which Hayley laughed.

"Nah, guys that deep aren't my type."

Exactly what Grace thought, too before she met that charming Original vampire. Grace then was distracted by Caroline handing the crown to April Young, everyone started clapping and cheering. Her eyes then fell on Elena who was staring into the crowd. As she followed her gaze, she saw her little brother and Grace immediately jumped up and started pushing through the crowd, until she was stopped by Elijah's hand grabbing her arm.

"Brother issues."

She whispered and went on her way as Elijah let go of her. It was just that good feeling that she knew that he would stick close by, but still giving her and her siblings the space they needed. Hayley was right, he was simply perfect.

Grace went inside the mansion, following her brother and her sister's heartbeats. Suddenly she could hear yelling and she used her vampire speed to get inside the room. She pushed her little brother who had just stabbed Elena in the throat away from her. But unfortunately, that didn't stop Jeremy for long. Now his older sister was the target and they got into a close combat that could only be lost by Grace because she was too careful not to hurt her brother. She felt her fangs lengthen and the urge to stop him by biting him or hitting his head hard against a surface, but her common sense of course kept her from it.

It was until the hunter gained the upper hand and pressed the vampire into a wall, lunging out with a wooden stake. From one second to the other, Jeremy was gone and when the shock left her body, she saw that Elijah was pressing her little brother to the wall, staring at him intensely.

"I recommend you to leave."

He whispered coldly and squeezed his throat a little before he let go. Thankfully, Jeremy was smart enough to not take on an Original vampire all on his own.

Grace fell to her knees next to Elena and pulled the small stake out of her neck.

"Are you ok?"

The doppelgänger coughed a little when the wood wasn't blocking her airway anymore, but then nodded. Some minutes later, she had explained her older sister the situation, about Jeremy's dreams of killing his sisters and every other vampire in town because of the mark.

"Can we agree on you telling me such things from now on?"

Elena rolled her eyes and Grace knew that her sister wasn't telling her because she feared that Grace would babble everything out to the Originals.

"I really should move out, shouldn't I?"

Both sisters sighed. But they also relaxed a little now that the danger coming from their brother was under control for now.

"You can move in with us, 'Lena. Elijah won't have a problem with that and Nik owes me. I can understand if you don't wanna go to the Salvatores right now."

Elijah watched the Gilbert women through the open door connecting to the other rooms and felt his heart ache at the amount of good will his love showed towards her sister, even after all her younger sister had done to her. In that Elijah and Grace were quite similar, but still the Original vampire had drifted away from his path to find happiness for his family. She had been the one to help him back to it. Elijah hoped she never would have to experience the same.

"Grace, I'm sorry, but I don't think that'll end up well. I'm ok with Stefan and Damon, really. But thanks."

The older Gilbert nodded, but there was a certain amount of sadness in her eyes. It was understandable. Her own sister chose to go to the to brothers that she had huge issues with right now, rather than living with her sister and her new family.

Both women stood up and Grace stepped to Elijah's side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to ease her disappointment. Of course Grace knew that it wouldn't have been easy to have Elena living in the Mikaelson mansion, but it was her only chance to really help her sister. It just made her realize even more that Elena and Grace weren't really much of a family anymore.


	48. Chapter 48

"We need to take out the vampire bitch first, I'm tired of her running around and giving orders like she owns us."

Kim, the most temperamental of the hybrids conspiring against Klaus, spat.

"Elijah's tailing her all day. How do you want to kill her if you have to get through an Original?"

Another hybrid brought the justified objection. Tyler was slowly developing a headache as he felt that all this was getting out of control. It was a suicide mission, but his pack seemed willing to take the risk.

"We need to separate her and then she's easy prey."

Again this girl was standing up to Tyler's dominance. He spared a short look at Hayley, who bit her lip and looked conflicted.

"Look, no one will kill Grace."

Tyler stepped in front of Kim to intimate her. But she still didn't get the warning.

"Why, because she's your friend? Ty, they call her family. She helped Klaus making us all into slaves, she pushed us around for god's sake. Seriously, she deserves to die. It'll send a fitting message."

The other hybrids nodded.

"The plan is to take down Klaus, I don't care what Elijah and Grace do. I've got one of the daggers, we'll compel a human to dagger Elijah and we'll take Grace as leverage. That sends a fitting message, because it'll lure Klaus to wherever we wanna have him."

They all knew that Tyler's plan was more possible to work. It still had its weak spots, like the huge possibility that Elijah would kill them all while trying to dagger him and of course there was a chance that they were to arrogant in general. Could they really take down Klaus? The man that countless enemies had tried to stop, but no one had succeeded.

"This will fall back on you, Ty, believe me, but whatever you say. It's your call."

Kim shrugged it off and walked off. The pack seemed to agree which meant that the plan would take place. If it would work that way was something that was open to interpretation.

...

"Another charity gala? Does this town have too much bored ladies or just too much money?"

Nik stated nonchalant as he, Grace and Elijah stood in front of the town's square. It was all decorated with fake snow and Christmas decoration, which made it look quite pathetic.

"A hint of both."

Grace was used to these events, of course, she had grown up with them. But now that she was saw the nonsense of it even more, she started to get annoyed by dressing up every second day.

"Society is the key for our race to live in peace and adapted. We should greet the people that welcomed us with open arms with a smile."

Elijah's voice had gotten the tone of an old teacher that was scolding his pupils. But Grace could see that there was a hint of amusement in his eyes and she chuckled.

"I prefer the method of torturing them if they do anything to annoy me."

A dangerous smile appeared on Nik's lips as they walked between the groups of people that were attending the event.

"Niklaus. Behave."

Elijah said calmly and his brother shot him a glare, muttering something about the couple being way too similar for their own good. The hybrid then parted ways with them, Grace was sure he spotted Caroline in the crowd. Eventually she would've to tell him that he behaved like a stalker. But until then, it was quite cute to watch their game of cat and mouse.

She suddenly felt eyes on her and saw that some of the hybrids were staring at her. Elijah looked down to her when she squeezed his hand.

"There's something wrong with the hybrids."

Her voice was so low that her lips barely moved, so only Elijah could hear her. But she faked a wide smile to keep their watchers from being suspicious.

"I've noticed it, too."

They seemed to circle the couple and Elijah straightened his suit jacket, something he always did when he was preparing to fight. Grace searched the crowd for Nik, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"They won't attack in the middle of this. Even hybrids aren't that stupid."

The Original's eyes darted between the hybrids that now where distancing again.

"I wouldn't count on that."

Grace then caught sight of Hayley who nervously waved for the young vampire to come over.

"Excuse me."

She whispered and walked towards the werewolf. Grace could feel Elijah's confused eyes on her, but she ignored it for now. Hayley led her into the restroom, the women double checked if they were alone.

"The hybrids are unsired. They want to capture you to lure Klaus into the woods and take him down."

Grace then realized how stupid it was to move an inch away from Elijah's side. Together they were stronger, she couldn't protect herself from a bunch of hybrids. The oldest Gilbert already heard steps coming towards the restroom.

She had no chance to escape anymore, but she needed to get Hayley out of here so she could warn Nik or Elijah. Grace needed to keep the hybrids busy for a while.

"You climb through the window and immediately warn Klaus or Elijah. Now!"

Her voice raised as the wolf girl hesitated, but just as the door to the restroom flew open, Hayley had fled. Kim, that nasty gal that she never could stand, walked inside and Grace flashed her a challenging grin.

"Ready to die, princess?"

The hybrid snarled and attacked her immediately. There was barely no space to move in here and Grace did the best she could to distract the hybrid for a while. She even managed to crash Kim's skull into the mirror, but suddenly the hybrid buried he fangs into her neck and from then on it went downhill for the vampire. Grace screamed when she was bitten and the shock didn't make it any better. She was thrown to the ground and Kim broke her neck in one swift movement.

...

Most of the guests had went inside the grill and Elijah was starting to get worried about Grace. Something had happened to her, he felt it. Just as he was about to go inside and look for her, this werewolf girl came running towards him. She was out of breath which kept her from speaking, but the look in her eyes told him it was urgent.

"Hybrids...have Grace...unsired...want to take Klaus down."

The girl panted, now she had Elijah's full attention. He asked himself why she was telling him this, if he remembered right, she was a close friend of Tyler Lockwood who definitely was involved in this.

"Where is she?"

His dark eyes bore into hers, his voice nearly a growl. When it came to Grace's safety, he didn't bother with being polite.

"I...I don't know. She told me to find you and then Kim came in..."

But Elijah didn't really listened to her words anymore. His eyes fixated on the five hybrids that came walking towards him. He pushed the werewolves behind him.

"Run."

He said calmly as he tensed innerly for the fight. Of course they couldn't take him down, but it would cost him valuable time to save Grace.

...

Grace had been here before. She immediately recognized the cold, wet walls of the Lockwood cellar when she woke up. Then she felt a stinging pain in her shoulder and she gasped. She peeked down to find her dress ripped and blood smeared. Carefully, she pushed the fabric aside to find the gaping bite wound. It looked terrible. Grace was in urgent need to get Nik's blood. Which was exactly what the hybrid's wanted. She was nothing more than bait.

"Are you foolish enough to think that you can fight Nik and Elijah?"

The young vampire spoke into the darkness, knowing that her attacker was still with her. She could feel her heart beat.

"Your boyfriend is being taken care of. He's probably daggered by now. The rest will be easier than you think with a witch's help."

Grace clenched her hands into fists. Her upper lip curled upwards when Kim mentioned Elijah being daggered.

"You're underestimating them. How do you think they survived a thousand years?"

Under a huge amount of pain she tried to get up. She was in no position to fight right now, so she had to be careful.

Kim just shrugged.

"I don't care. You know what'll be the most fun part in this? Seeing you die."

Grace frowned. She never had done anything to her. Since they were turned, Grace always tried hard to stay away from the hybrids, even if Klaus had told them to do everything she says. But maybe Kim was jealous, because Grace was the one that was put above all. While the hybrids had been slaves to Klaus, Grace had a huge amount of power, let alone that she always kept her free will.

"Kim, they'll be here any second now. You're unsired, why don't you just run?"

A laugh was her answer and it played with Grace's temper.

"Revenge is everything I have left. There's no place I can go to. Klaus killed my whole pack. Now with that heightened vampire sense shit and all...We can't kill him, because of that sireline thing, but we can hurt him by killing you. And we can turn him down so the world finally gets rid of that monster."

Grace shook her head sighing, knowing that there was no way to talk sense into the hybrid. Kim couldn't control her emotions, that's why she was stupid enough to try and fight the Originals. Maybe she was better off dead.

She turned around and slowly paced through the cellar when her eyes suddenly fell on an objected hidden in the shadows. Being so occupied with inspecting the hybrid bite, she didn't even notice that a coffin was in this room, close to a wall.

"Oh my god."

Her eyes went wide open. Nik had lied to her all the time. Rebekah must be in it, no one else could be. She never had went away to stay away from her brother. All this time she had been daggered, again. Nik really had done this. Did this fool never learn?

When she wanted to walk towards the coffin, she felt Kim grabbing her arm, but all of a sudden, the hybrid's body fell to the floor limply. Elijah stood behind the corpse and let her heart fall to the ground. His eyes were on her and relief flooded both of them. The white shirt of his suit and his hands were splattered with blood.

Grace fell into his arms and hugged him tightly, immediately relaxing a bit. For a second she really had been afraid that the hybrids managed to dagger him, but she should've known that he easily could take them down on his own.

"You're hurt."

He whispered and inspected the wound on her shoulder. Grace flinched a bit when his fingers touched the sensitive flesh.

"Grace, you need Niklaus' blood. Now."

She gently pushed his hands away so she could turn back around to the coffin.

"Oh, believe me, I'm gonna find that bastard."

When she opened the lid, she felt Elijah freeze behind her. She shortly gazed over her shoulder to see disappointment written all over his face. Exactly what Grace felt, too. She thought Nik was making some progress and the other second he daggered his sister and to carry it to new ends of betrayal, he lied about it.

Grace grabbed the handle of the dagger and pulled it out of her friend's chest. She handed it to Elijah who put it in the pocket of his jacket. His eyes were still fixated on his sister.

"Stay with her. I need to have a talk to your brother."

The Original's head turned to her and he frowned.

"I won't let you go alone. Especially not after what he did."

She shook her head and lightly squeezed his shoulder.

"You'll immediately go at each other's throats. Elijah, you know he won't hurt me. Please, don't be worried. I need to be healed anyway."

He looked deeply conflicted, wanting nothing more than ignore her words. But he never wanted to dedicate to her what she should and should not do. Elijah always wanted her to make her own decisions. With a sigh, he gave in.

"Be careful."

Grace stood on her tip toes to kiss him on his cheek.

"I will."

A minute later, Grace was back at the town's square. She had seen the slaughtered hybrids and noticed that Tyler Lockwood wasn't among them. Grace knew what he was about to do.

Nik's hand was tightly wrapped around Carol Lockwoods throat. He wanted revenge. The same motive Kim had, but Grace desperately hoped she would have more success in talking him out of it.

"Nik, don't do this."

The hybrid that was heavily splattered with blood from head to toe, which made him look like straight out of a bad horror movie, turned around to face his friend.

"Why? Tell me, Gracie, why shouldn't I do this?"

Her mind raced. She knew that she had to say the right thing now.

"Because you're better than this. Yes, they all betrayed you, but hell, you knew they weren't your family. You already have one. Let's not forget that you daggered Rebekah and lied to me about it."

His eyes showed the slightest hint of surprise when she mentioned that she found out about Rebekah. But his grip around Carol's throat only tightened.

"Please, do it for me. I can beg if that's what you want me to do."

Nik stared at her intensely and seemed to think. He knew that he could loose Grace's friendship because of this. Because of what he did to Rebekah. Because of what he was about to do now.

Darkness consumed him and he suddenly dipped the mayor's head in the water of the fountain. He held her down easily so she would drown painfully.

Grace tried to push him away, but it was even easier to keep her away. The bite weakened her harshly. Still, she tried her best, clawed at his shirt and tried to yell sense into him. But Carol stopped struggling. She was dead.

Tears fell onto Grace cheeks and she hit him hard onto his chest. Nik grabbed her wrists and held her away from him to check her for any injuries. He took a deep breath when he saw the already infected werewolf bite.

"You need my blood."

Grace still struggled against his grip, her being angry was the understatement of the year.

"Yes, captain obvious, I do! But I won't take a damn from you, you silly bastard!"

He rolled his eyes.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Are you serious? You're asking ME what is wrong with me? Nik, you daggered your sister! You just killed Carol Lockwood despite the fact that I asked you, no, I begged you to not do it."

The young vampire hissed and finally freed herself off his grip. Nik adverted his gaze to the ground, not able to look her in the eyes.

"I don't let myself be controlled by you, Gracie. I do what I want to do. And I can't trust anyone here, that's why I daggered Rebekah."

Shaking her head, she took a seat as dizziness took over her. She slapped Nik's hands away as he tried to stabilize her.

"Is that why you're always so grim lately when Elijah and I catch one glimpse of happiness?"

The hybrid tensed. He had hoped that she wouldn't notice it.

"I don't trust him with you."

A deep frown plastered on her beautiful face, his words made her mind even more cloudy. She couldn't quite understand what he meant.

"Are you jealous of him? Nik, I told you that you and I will never happened. I thought you're ok with being friends."

Grace couldn't loose him as her friend. She needed him. But she knew that she had to stay away from him if he really had feelings for him.

But her worries were pushed away when he had the audacity to laugh at her.

"Ew, Gracie, don't be ridiculous. I don't want to get cozy with you..."

He sighed and looked her in the eyes again.

"He's just not good enough for you."

Of course. How could she think otherwise? Because she didn't quite realize how important she was to him. The true reason why he carried his siblings around in coffins for centuries was because he was afraid that they would leave him eventually. He hated the ones that they loved outside the family. Grace was the great exception. But it also meant that she was included in this fear.

Nik cupped her cheek and she was too stunned to move.

"Grace, I know my brother better than anyone else. You haven't seen every side of him, he's darker than any one of us, because he never accepted the monster he is. I don't want that for you. I'm afraid that he will hurt you."

She grabbed his hand, her voice intense as she desperately spoke.

"I know, Nik. I know and I'm ok with it. I'm not afraid of him. But what's more is that I love him. And he loves me in return. That's what's important, the rest we'll figure out together."

Grace leaned her forehead against her friends and closed her eyes. Nik was surprised that she admitted that she loved his brother. She never had said it that directly before. It made him understand and the fear and anger vanished.

"Elijah will never hurt me. Nik, I won't leave you. You are my family. But please, let me live my life to its fullest. I know I can only be happy with you, Beks and Elijah at my side. I just love you all so much."

He didn't say another word and just bit into his wrist and offered it to her. Grace took another pleading look at her friend, leaned down and drank a sip of the cure for a werewolf bite. She immediately felt the pain fade.

But before she could say something else, Nik was gone. Sighing she covered her face with her hands and let all this desperation take her over. Sometimes having a family that she loved so dearly wasn't easy. Sometimes they were all so foolish.


	49. Chapter 49

Grace was beyond exhausted when she arrived home this day. Fortunately, the hybrid bite had completely healed, but the conversation with Nik left her torn. She was mad at him, seriously mad for daggering Rebekah, killing Carol and thinking that low of his own brother. But on the other hand, he was so caring and protective towards her that it made her heart melt.

Still, she fell asleep in her torn dress, not even noticing that Elijah joined her shortly after. The thoughts only came back when she woke, held tightly by her love. Sunlight was already shining brightly into the bedroom.

"Have I missed any more deaths while I slept?"

She groaned, burying her face in his clothed chest. He must've been up already, his shirt smelled freshly washed. Elijah's fingers lightly combed her straight hair.

"No, but a new mayor was found. Bonnie Bennetts' father. I hope that won't be a problem. A service is being held at the school's gym, where he'll be introduced."

Grace looked up again, finding him staring out of the window deep in thought.

"I really tried. I begged him to let Carol live. But he did it anyway."

Sighing, she interlaced their fingers.

"That's what my brother does, Grace. I have seen him spiraling like that a hundred times now, but I'm truly ashamed that you had to experience it that way. It's my task to protect you, even from him and I failed."

His eyes darkened and Grace immediately sat up with a frown. Sometimes he just let himself sink into that darkness when he thought that he did something wrong. Did he really think that low of himself? It would be a long way for Grace to help him out of that self loathing.

"No, Elijah, I'm a grown woman. I can make my own decisions. I can handle this, really. Maybe I do seem quite fragile, but I got quite the thick skull."

She smiled lightly, to which Elijah cupped her cheeks with his hand.

"You're the strongest person I ever met, Miss Gilbert."

His words touched her deeply and made her heart clench in a delicate way. Grace leaned down and kissed him longingly.

"I need to shower...wanna join?"

She mumbled while grinning mischievously. The Original vampire didn't waste a second and sped to the bathroom carrying her. He helped her out of the ripped dress, while Grace undid the buttons of his shirt. Undressing always had something elegant, teasing with him, but now they were quite in a rush. Their lips never parted when he led her to the shower, Grace desperately awaiting the feeling of the warm water rinsing all the dirt and blood down from her body, while she could still touch Elijah's skin.

But when he turned on the handle, there was no amazing feeling of warm water on her skin. Just pure pain as if the water was acid. It probably was, but in the form of vervain. Grace knew what kind of damage this wretched plant left. She let out a scream of surprise as her usually fair skin literally etched away. Fortunately, Elijah was more resilient and was quick enough to rush them both out from under the water. They crashed into the opposite wall, quickly grabbing towels to get rid of the vervain water.

"What the hell..."

Grace said in panic as she watched the wounds on her arms slowly close. When she looked up, she saw that Elijah's handsome face was full of terrible burn wounds, but they were healing more quickly than hers.

"Someone must've put vervain in the water system..."

His eyes scanned the still running shower and he quickly reached over to turn off the handle, burning his forearm with it.

"Well, that's what I call a massive turn off."

She said through gritted teeth, while she wrapped a fresh towel around her bare body. Her skin has healed, but it was still bright red. The Originals had hell of an advantage with healing more quickly.

"My worries about the new mayor seemed to have approved. It's clever, about also a desperate call for Niklaus to kill all the locals."

Sighing, he shook his head. How much Grace hated this town. It only grew day by day. There never would be any true peace here, not if the humans tried stunts like this.

"Lake house. Now."

The young vampire walked over to the dressing room and put some clothes on. Her anger added up to new dimensions and she was just sick of Mystic Falls.

"Your brother and Damon are there. I don't think you're safe under one roof with a vampire hunter."

Grace didn't bother looking up and already grabbed some clothes to take with her.

"You're there protecting me. Anyways, I need to learn how to fight. A hybrid and both my siblings can take me out way too easily. I don't trust Damon with helping Jeremy train properly. You're the best teacher I can imagine and Jer will be a good partner."

Elijah just lifted his brows, but handed her a bag to store the clothes in.

"No, I honestly just want to get out of this crap town again. Come on, I'm also sick of Nik and Rebekah's bickering, they'll survive some more days without us."

Chuckling, he took some suits out of the wardrobe and handed them to her.

"I seriously doubt that."

...

Grace looked out of the car's window as the landscape flew by. When she spared a short look at Elijah, she noticed that they were about to pass a place that made Grace's world shift on its axis.

"Can you stop for a minute? I want to show you something."

The Original looked confused, but fulfilled her wish. The huge car stopped on the side of the road and Grace hopped out of it, followed by Elijah shortly after. She had never visited this place after the tragic event that happened here. Grace simply couldn't.

Walking up to the tree line, she found what she was looking for. A small, wooden cross, partly taken back by nature by now. Weeds and plants were covering the ground around it, making it fit perfectly into the surrounding woods, as if it belonged here.

"We never really had the exes-talk...here's mine."

Elijah's lips parted in surprise as he looked down to the small memorial. The name 'Jean' was carved into the weather worn wood. His eyes adverted to Grace, whose eyes were clouded. She was revealing a lot by doing this and Elijah's own, hidden pain creeped up. He wasn't sure what to do. At this moment she looked so fragile that he was afraid to break her.

"He's the reason why I can't say it to you, Elijah. Why I can't express my feelings in those three words that I so want to say, but I'm afraid to."

The color of his dark eyes literally melted right in front of her and he pulled her closer to him, knowing that she needed his comfort. They both stared down onto the memorial now, but Elijah stood in silence because he knew that she would continue talking if she wanted to.

"I was in the lake house with my parents, you know, they hated him. Of course. He was way too old and it caused this big fight with Jenna. But then, suddenly, my parents allowed him to join me there when they and my siblings left back for home. I called him and for the first time ever he said that he loved me. Then he went on his way. Two hours later my mum called me and told me that he died in a car accident. Crashed into a tree. Isn't this ridiculous?"

She shook her head as a tear escaped her eye. Elijah stroked it away with his thumb. Never before had she shown that much trust in him. They never had talked about it and for Grace this must be something she had locked away years ago.

"Did you love him?"

It should've been uncomfortable, but it wasn't. The were closer than ever. She just admitted that she loved him deeply, they never had been more sure of their feelings for each other.

"I thought so. At this point of my life I was very naive, I mean, I was sixteen, and I simply depended on him. I needed him like a drug, he could do everything he want to me. He never hurt me physically or something...but it was mentally abusive. Jean used me, I was more of a project to him. He wanted to break my will. But I didn't see that. So no, I didn't really love him. It's not comparable to what I feel for you. I could live without you...it just wouldn't make that much sense."

Smiling, she squeezed his hand. Elijah tensed a bit when he heard what she had lived through in this relationship. Grace had experienced a lot of violence since she belonged to him, too, and he would never forgive himself for the countless enemies that were now threatening her life, but never would he hurt her this way.

"You know, what's funny? The sacrifice took place in this woods, you remember? The girl that was stupid enough to let herself be taken advantage of died here. I may be not properly sane and I think my degree of paranoia and fear is quite disorderly, but I left it all behind. Still, I'm afraid of telling you that I love you, because I fear that you'll disappear out of my live afterwards. Isn't this ridiculous?"

Elijah shook his head and felt all the darkness having a tight hold on his undead heart. It was his time to trust her. To tell her that she wasn't ridiculous. That they again were so similar.

"It isn't, Grace. I feel the same. Over my thousand years of lifetime, before I met you, I experienced love twice. The first time I was still human...The second time it destroyed me. To both women I said 'I love you' and they were taken from me shortly after. I swore to myself that I would never love again. My whole existence told me that I don't deserve it. But then you decided to come into my life. You made me break that vow."

Warmth flooded Grace's body and she leaned her head on his shoulder. She had been afraid to tell Elijah about this dark chapter of her life, but now she saw that it was the best decision. They were mutually dysfunctional in expressing their feelings, but now they both knew why. Grace understood how much it took of him to tell her about the women he lost. He lived for a thousand years, he survived so much, but experience seeing someone he loved die made his heart turn to stone. When he thought that Grace died it was even worse, because she had made his dead heart turn back to live again. It felt like it was ripped out of his chest when she died in his arms. Which made it all the more reason to protect her. He wouldn't survive loosing her.

"Maybe it's a curse placed on us. Maybe that's why we're perfect for each other."

She whispered and simply allowed herself to enjoy his presence.

"You aren't cursed. You also aren't a curse placed on me. Grace, you're too pure to ever be something aside from my redemption. What I'm questioning myself is if I deserve it. Be sure that I desire it above all."

His fingers lifted her chin and their lips brushed the slightest. So many emotions passed between them in this moment.

"You do deserve it. We both do."

Grace took one last glance at Jean's memorial before she joined Elijah in walking back to the car. It was actually quite ironic that her first boyfriend brought her even closer to the man she loved. Jean was probably cursing violently from wherever he was. The thought made Grace smile. Even though it was such a sensitive topic for both Elijah and Grace they found trust in each other and it made them feel like nothing could stand in their way from now on.


	50. Chapter 50

There were some things Grace Gilbert had enjoyed her whole life. Music, art, acting and history were among them. But what she never had imagined herself to do was being in the middle of nowhere, training how to fight and getting her ass royally kicked by him.

Elijah was a patient teacher but even he with his controlled face he couldn't hide a cocky grin when Grace was thrown on the ground again. Fortunately Jeremy was mostly cured of his fantasies to kill his own sister.

Grace struggled hard to learn the basic moves and direct all of her strength in the right way, but it was so hard. Her ambition took over her and changed into anger, that's when she felt her power the most.

Circling Jeremy, her upper lip lightly curled upwards and she concentrated, heard her brother's blood pulsate through his body, it made her own heart race. She sped behind him and took him by surprise. If this was for real, she would've jumped on his back and bit hard into his neck, but of course she didn't. She used one of the kicks she was taught, but Jeremy dodged the blow and grabbed a hold of her. The vampire and the hunter struggled for a bit and Grace suddenly felt the sparring go very serious when Jeremy suddenly was hovering over her, a stake over his head. But thankfully Elijah grabbed a hold of her little brother's wrist and got the wood out of his hand.

"Enough for today. Proceed to gun training with Damon, Jeremy."

The Original calmly said and stretched his hand out to help Grace to her feet. Damon sat on a bench near the lake and annoyed everyone with his snarky remarks the whole day.

"He should train combat with me. Gracie's skinny, that's no challenge."

It triggered Grace's temper and she stomped towards the older Salvatore until Elijah's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"You wanna see how I break your neck?"

Damon laughed and handed Jeremy a gun, before Grace's younger brother walked off.

"You? The way you fight? I could take you out on my worst day."

He provoked her even further and Grace wanted to get of Elijah's grip, but of course he wouldn't let go.

"Damon, I suggest that you do what you're here for, or I'll break your neck for her."

The threat seemed to be enough to scare Damon away. Pouting, Grace stepped away from Elijah and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She hated to rely on him for protection. Grace was here to learn how to be responsible for herself, but so far she was nothing but a failure.

"You need further training."

Elijah's voice still had this teacher sound that made Grace's throat dry. In addition to that, he took off his suit jacket and tie before he rolled the sleeves of his shirt up.

"I like where this is going."

She teasingly licked her lips and raised her eyebrows, to which Elijah chuckled. He positioned himself in front of her and his arms low, his serious gaze daring her to start.

"I see you won't learn by training with your brother. You don't need to be careful with me."

There was a hint of excitement in his eyes. He enjoyed to fight and he was good, she had seen him before. The way he carried himself while fighting was still elegant, but still predatory.

"So I'm getting the hot teacher now?"

His expression turned unreadable.

"Grace."

He again motioned for her to start and she did. As quickly as she could, she tried to attack him, but in one swift movement, he grabbed her wrists and turned her around, her back pressing into his chest, his lips hovering over his neck. His breath was tickling her neck and her breath quickened.

"Your face is giving your actions away."

Elijah gently pushed her away from him so she could begin again. Control over her emotions was something she was usually good in, so it wasn't hard for her to suppress her own anger of her failure and keep her face blank.

She again tried the strategy to get behind him, but he was so much quicker than Jeremy. Grace had to surprise him by disappearing into the woods before she could jump on his back. Her legs wrapped around his waist, but before she could sink her teeth into his soft skin, she had grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her over. Within the blink of a second, she was buried under his broad figure, her hands pinned over her head, her chest pressed into his.

The tension between them was physical and even tough his face was controlled, it was obvious that this has become something entirely else than training.

"I'm stronger, Grace. Those tricks won't work."

His lips were inches away from hers and Grace literally felt his patience melt. Suddenly, her back was against a tree and Elijah leaned down and kissed her neck passionately. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. It was unbelievingly hot when he was like this, but she knew that she had to wait for one more second.

Her hands wandered to his chest as if she wanted to open his shirt, but instead she suddenly pushed with all the force she had and she actually succeeded in making him fall to the ground. Now she was sitting on him and fixing his wrists over his head. They both chuckled.

"I think I like fighting with you..."

She whispered before capturing his mouth. Her hands let go of his wrists and wandered down to his shoulders, where she clawed her fingers into his shirt. But unfortunately they knew that they weren't alone and that Jeremy and Damon could come around the corner every second. There wasn't even enough time to disappear into the woods to release all this built up tension.

Elijah gently lifted her up and placed her on her feet again before stealing one last peck off her lips.

"Later."

He smiled and leaned his forehead onto hers.

...

Surprisingly it was Nik that brought them an evening all for themselves. He turned a whole bar full of drunk people into vampires for Jeremy to kill. It was such a Nik-thing to do that it didn't even surprise Grace. When it came to patience, one would never expect Elijah and Nik to be brothers. For the hybrid it was all going on to slow.

Grace had stopped caring about it. She wanted to slap Nik for his rude ways, but he wouldn't listen to her anyways, so she simply saved herself the trouble of fighting with him.

The young vampire sat on the cozy bed of the master bedroom, her laptop on her lap. She started some research on this Silas person. Rebekah earlier texted her what she found out from Professor Shane. What she found wasn't quite cheering. 'Hell on earth' was something she would love to quit.

Elijah came in shortly after with two glasses of wine in his hands. He placed them on the small bedside table and sat behind Grace, his hands starting to gently work on the tensed muscles in her shoulders. Grace closed her eyes and bit her lip. Could he be even more perfect.

"Doing research?"

He pushed her hair over her shoulder to move his hands to her neck.

"Jup, I'm starting to write my biography. I plan to call it 'How to live with a family of thousand years old vikings and sleeping with one'."

She said jokingly and could literally hear Elijah smile behind her.

"...I was just thinking about the theory if the sexual drives fade over the years, you know, old man and all..."

Grace giggled when Elijah nudged her playfully. She leaned back to rest her head on his shoulder.

"An old friend of mine had the theory that sexual drives determine our whole behavior. You should include that into your statement."

As his words sunk in, she lifted her eyebrows and turned to look at him surprised.

"Tell me that this old friend isn't Sigmund Freud."

A smirk plastered on his handsome features as he noticed her excitement. That's why they fitted so perfectly together. They had so many mutual interests.

"I spent some time in Vienna when he lived. You would've loved it there."

She could only imagine having the opportunity to talk to someone with such an amount of importance. Grace felt the urge to jump up and down and bombard Elijah with questions.

"God, why haven't you turned him into a vampire? Imagine Freud with the resource of analysis we have today. I would cut off my hands to see that."

The Original laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer.

"I don't think he would've liked today's world. He was a genius, we influenced each other's thinking immensely, but he wasn't quite the feminist."

Grace shook her head smiling, still not really getting that Elijah knew such people in person.

"...and there's a problem with turning humans that have quite the significance in society. They tend to have a lot of attention on them and attention is something vampires shouldn't be keen on. It makes people notice things...like not aging, a high amount of people dying from blood loss around them. You know, we built up our very own society that doesn't rely on human qualities. That's why most supernatural beings see the cognition of my siblings' and my face as common knowledge, while humans don't know about our importance in this world."

His hands gestured while he spoke and a small smile appeared on Grace's face. When they were talking like this Elijah seemed so relaxed and happy. She could listen to him talk all day.

"Which makes the girlfriend of the vampire equivalent of some king."

She grinned, but Elijah's eyes darkened and he adverted his gaze.

"It makes you the target for many enemies."

Sometimes the guilt and worry overwhelmed Elijah and it kept him from enjoying this utter piece of happiness with Grace.

Shaking her head, she placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to look at her.

"I'm very willing to take that risk. That's why I'm trying to learn to protect myself."

Elijah sighed and relaxed into her touch.

"Speaking of...we're not done with today's training."

The oldest Gilbert frowned and rolled her eyes.

"You can't be serious."

She was expecting getting her ass kicked again, but Elijah meant something quite different. He smiled knowingly.

"I mean training your mental abilities. You're very talented, which makes it your greatest advantage and it's as important as combat from time to time."

Grace took a deep breath.

"Well, I'm in on everything that takes place in this bed."

They both chuckled at her meaningful words, but Elijah returned back to being serious soon.

"Concentrate. I want you to enter my mind. Show me something of your liking."

Grace bit her lip and thought of something that wasn't awkward to show him. When she managed to find something fitting, she closed her eyes and concentrated on it, reaching out with her mind to Elijah's. It didn't take much effort, those mind strength things came quite natural to her.

Elijah prepared his mind for the intruder. He didn't want to make it too easy for her, so he shut his thoughts away, which usually would make it impossible to enter the Original's mind.

But all of a sudden, he felt the control slip away and he saw he memory he shared with her. It was at the ball his family held, but in this case he didn't see Grace enter through the massive double doors, it was the other way around. He saw his own, stunned face, his eyes giving away too much emotion, but back then he couldn't help himself. She looked so beautiful this night, it was a memory he himself loved to think back to often. But Elijah didn't only saw her point of view, he literally felt it. He could feel Elena's body beside her, he felt Grace's excitement and nervousness as if it was his own. Even the way her breath hitched when she caught sight of Elijah was like as if he took it on his own.

His eyes widened when Grace withdrew her hand and released him from the vision.

"Did you even try to resist?"

She said amused und examined his surprised expression.

"Yes, I actually did. That's...quite extraordinary. I'm curious how it will develop when you get older."

To be honest Grace was a little bit proud of herself, that she at least had this one talent that kept her from being a complete failure. An idea appeared in her mind and she flushed a little.

"I would like to try something."

Elijah pulled up a brow, still looking a bit confused. No one before had entered his mind like this.

"What exactly would that be?"

"Um...you once told me this...mind control thingy...heightens when a connection to the bloodstream is upheld. Do you trust me?"

He nodded, knowing exactly what she wanted. The muscles in his lower stomach tensed as his subconscious remembered how it felt when she fed off him. But she never before had done this completely conscious of her abilities.

Grace lightly pushed him down into the pillows and unbuttoned his shirt a bit further so she could pull down the collar. Instinctively, his hands held her by her waist and ran up and down while they stared each other in the eyes. Even before she sunk her lips to his neck, their breathing increased, both knowing how intense this would get. Elijah closed his eyes as her lips caressed his sensitive skin, searching for the right spot. When her fangs pierced into his artery, Elijah grabbed her even tighter, the rush of emotions and senses overwhelming him. He explored pieces of her that he never had seen before, how she felt in every moment they spent together. But he also felt his own memories and feelings enter her mind, creating a deeper understanding of each other that couldn't be more intimate.

It drifted off from experimenting pretty fast. Elijah suddenly flipped them over, kissing her blood smeared mouth. He was looking into her hooded eyes, asking for permission and she granted it by exposing her neck completely to him. This was the first time that he drank from her since she was a vampire. Before he only had tasted her blood after he woke up in the Salvatore basement and he had helped him out of that misery.

A moan escaped Grace mouth and both their bodies started to move in unison. Grace felt like her whole body was exploding with lust and she couldn't wait any longer to feel his bare skin on hers. They were finally all on their own, no intruders expected, so they could give into their shared desire for each other.

...

With the blood stained sheets in her hands, Grace walked towards the dustbins to get rid of them. They were ruined, but it had been worth it. A wide grin spread on her face when she thought back to what just happened.

But before she could finish the task, Jeremy, Matt and Damon stormed towards her, looking quite upset. Grace raised a brow.

"What happened?"

The older Salvatore motioned towards the bloodied sheets and Grace gave him a look.

"Do you really want to know?"

All of them grimaced in disgust and walked towards the house, Jeremy dragging his sister with him after she put the sheets in the bin.

"Newbie vampires are on our trail. Your bestie let them loose to rip Matty and your brother apart."

Grace just shrugged.

"Well, why don't we just kill them? It'll let Jeremy's mark grow."

Damon turned around and raised his voice enraged.

"Because your stupid little brother will get eaten before he could kill one of them."

The vampire all of them inside, to which Grace frowned. Elijah just stepped out of the bedroom, just wearing his pants and an unbuttoned shirt.

"You do know that the deed is in my name? Which means everyone can enter?"

The eyes of Damon, Matt and Jeremy widened to a degree that Grace feared that they would pop out of their sockets.

"Car, now!"

Damon yelled and the trio disappeared out of the house again. Elijah and Grace just shared an amused glance before they looked out to see the mentioned vampires moving towards the house. Then, there were some screams and ripping sounds and Nik stepped through the crowd, killing some of the vampires that stood in his way. He hopped onto the porch and kissed Grace's cheek while he walked in.

"Don't bother, they'll be gone as soon as the sun rises. Do you have anything to eat? This bar had nothing proper and I'm seriously dying of hunger."

Grace closed the door behind him, the newbie vampires looking at her frightened and confused. They probably came to their right senses again now that there wasn't any human blood around them and because Nik had just killed some of them, they might have noticed that they weren't as strong as they thought. She chuckled and motioned towards the fridge.

"Help yourself."


	51. Chapter 51

The trio went back to Mystic Falls after they assumed that Damon and Jeremy ditched them. It was a silent, nearly peaceful drive up until the moment when they got into the mansion and found a surprise guest waiting for them.

"Elena?"

Grace said surprised when she saw her sister sitting on the porch. The doppelgänger stood up and approached her sister, noticing the suspicious gazes of Elijah and Grace, while Klaus kept his amused grin.

"Grace, Kol has Damon captive...he threatens to kill Jeremy to keep us from finding the cure."

The older sister's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Nik spoke first.

"Not to keep us from finding the cure, he wants to prevent that Silas is woken...which he may actually have a point with."

His tone was mocking while he unlocked the door and let them all in.

"I don't care what Kol wants or not, but there's no way in hell that he'll touch my brother."

Grace hissed, on the edge of her nerves from one second to the other. Elijah looked at her with worry, but didn't try to calm her. She had all right to be angry. Again the Original couldn't be more ashamed of his little brother.

"You want to find the cure as much as we do, Klaus."

Elena's gaze adverted to Elijah, ironically the one that she thought she could reason with more.

"...so please, I beg you, stop your brother."

It was again a showing of Elena being hypocritical, wasn't she the one who was against the relationship of her older sister and the Original? Now she tried to ask something from him. Grace couldn't care less at this moment because she was occupied with cursing Kol Mikaelson to death, but still she just couldn't stop finding matters to bicker over with her sister whenever she saw her.

"Don't worry, I'll make him."

She was beyond mad when she pulled out the phone and dialed Kol's number.

"Oh, Gracie graces me with a call. What can I do for you, sweetheart?"

Kol had the audacity to laugh about his pun, which made Grace swallow a growl.

"There are some things. First, go to hell. Second, leave my brother alone. Third, bring some balls of steel if you dare to come home."

She heard Nik chuckle about her hilarious statement and she elbowed him hard in the ribs. Despite her worry about Jeremy, Elena watched the dynamic between the Mikaelsons and Grace curiously. They really acted like a family.

"I'm honestly sorry that the collateral damage has to be your little brother, but I can't let you raise Silas."

Suddenly, Nik stole the phone from her hands and growled into it.

"Do you want a dagger in your heart, Kol?"

Grace groaned and quickly got her phone back, but Nik held it away from her. Dagger-threats were exactly what wasn't productive here. She needed Kol to trust his family, to talk him into letting go of Jeremy. The oldest Gilbert had no clue what she'd do if Kol really murdered her brother. It would probably end in hell a lot of bloodshed and a vendetta that would even teach Kol Mikaelson, the most wild of them all, some fear.

In the end it was Elijah that took the phone from his brother's hands and sighed.

"Little brother, I recommend you to come home so we can settle this like family. Do not touch Jeremy Gilbert."

Grace held her breath, but shot a thankful glance at Elijah.

"Your girlfriend has you all wrapped around her little finger, brother. But fine, he won't be hurt by my hands. See you later."

Kol hung up the phone and Grace released the breath she held. She took her phone back from Elijah and mouthed a 'thank you' towards him. The trio now turned to Elena, all of them implying with there gazes that it was time to leave for the doppelgänger. Elena looked at them conflicted, maybe even a little scared by their dynamic and left the mansion. This was family business now.

But of course the youngest Mikaelson brother had to weasel his way out of his promise. He was unpredictable and there was no chance that he ever could be trusted. His way to get after Jeremy was to compel Damon to kill him, so he wouldn't have to do it himself. Clever bastard.

Of course Damon wasn't strong enough to resist the compulsion and Elena desperately called her older sister to help stop her boyfriend. Grace had to take matters into her own hands and broke Damon's neck shortly before he could touch Jeremy. She was the only one ruthless enough to do it. Stefan came in a bit later to lock Damon up until they found a solution to break the compulsion.

Grace knew that the only way was to dagger Kol. She resented that method, but for once it needed to be done. Kol deserved it this time. Unfortunately, she couldn't do it herself as it would kill her to dagger him.

When she got home, she found out that she probably didn't even have to say a word. Rebekah, Nik and Elijah stood opposite Kol, a dagger touched his chest, while Kol himself threatened his sister with the white oak stake. The air was filled with tension, as if the littlest sound or movement could turn the situation into pure violence.

Pain stung into Grace's heart when she saw the family torn apart like this. Nik had daggered Rebekah, she hated him for it; Kol loathed his family in general and Elijah, as always, stood in the middle, ashamed of his own failure to keep his family together.

"No, not today."

Grace suddenly blurted. All their heads turned around to look at her, they hadn't even noticed her coming in. They all had similar looks of confusion on their faces.

"We're close to Christmas. Isn't it a wonderful occasion to spend an afternoon and evening without any threats and hate? Just today, simply peace. We'll be a family for once."

Every one except for Elijah stared at her as if she had turned crazy, bickering started to rise.

"How should that work?"

Kol mocked and glared at the younger vampire, which made Elijah nervous and he instinctively stepped to Grace's side protectively.

"Well first, we could stop trying to kill each other."

She stepped between Kol and Rebekah bravely and pushed the stake and the dagger down. The siblings exchanged glances, before Nik started to chuckle.

"Your call, Gracie. We could at least try."

She smiled thankfully at her friend.

"Thank you!"

"I'm not pretending to have a merry mood with them!"

Rebekah wildly motioned between Nik and Kol, to which Grace rolled her eyes.

"You killed my sister, Beks. You want me to forgive you? Do this for me."

As a small smile wanted to come to surface, Grace bit her lip. She knew she was not being fair, but if this was the only way to keep them together, she would do everything.

"She has a point, little sister."

Nik laughed and wrapped an arm around Rebekah's shoulder, which she shrugged off. But in the end she nodded. All eyes darted to Kol now.

"Your girl can be quite persuasive, Elijah. Well, count me in. Got nothing to loose."

His eyes were fixated on Grace, who immediately grinned widely and clapped her hands. She never had been a sucker for Christmas or anything, but this was the best chance she got at showing the Mikaelsons how amazing family time could be.

"Wonderful. We're doing all the cliches. Baking cookies and tonight we'll have an amazingly delicious duck. Come on, Beks, we're doing the grocery shopping!"

She had no clue why she was exited to this degree, but it seemed to loosen up everyone. Before she left, Elijah wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her close, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"What would I do without you?"

He whispered and put a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Probably something similar but without all the fun."

She chuckled.

"You do realize that we have to dagger Kol, don't you?"

His voice was low and he made sure that his siblings weren't in hearing distance. Grace sighed.

"I do. But not today."

...

Rebekah and Grace literally raided the closest supermarket. They filled two carts filled to the brim with food, baking supplies and Christmas decoration as the Mikaelson home pretty much lacked all the essentials for a cozy family evening. People shot them glances as they saw the women buying everything that pleased them, but Grace was joyful because it brought the ease with her blonde friend back. The tension of the last weeks faded and Rebekah was more than happy to have Grace back. She had missed that they stood together like sisters, because over the time the women knew each other, Grace had become the sister Rebekah always had wanted.

Together they crammed everything in Elijah's massive car. Grace had Rebekah infected with the Christmas mood, so the girls smiled from ear to ear while they drove back home. The smile nearly knocked Elijah off his feet when Grace entered the mansion, but he quickly reminded himself of his manners and urged his brothers to get in all the women had bought. Kol and Niklaus couldn't help but curse over the amount of knick knack they brought.

"I already regret this."

"Why have I allowed to let you live here, Gracie?"

Elijah's younger brothers mumbled, but the Original vampire knew that it was more of amusement. But still he couldn't hold back a remark.

"Children, you will give her the perfect evening she deserves, or I will let her loose on you. I wouldn't dare crossing Miss Gilbert if someone ruined her Christmas mood."

He caught Grace by her waist and helped her getting on the table so she could hang some garlands above it. Rebekah did the same in the living room.

"Finally someone that sees that I'm a force to be reckoned with."

She winked at Elijah and jumped into his arms when she was ready.

"Oh, yes, really dangerous."

Nik said sarcastically and Grace immediately slapped his arm. Then she got to one of the bags that held more decoration in it and smiled savagely when she pulled out two Christmas hats and a headband that had a set of fluffy deer horns on it. She placed one on her hair, looking perfectly adorable with it to a degree that it made Elijah's heart melt, before she threw the other to Rebekah. With the headband she walked towards Nik who raised his arms in defense and skipped backwards. But after some struggling he gave up and she carefully tugged it behind his ears so it sat properly. Playfully, she wrapped and arm around his shoulders and presented her project to the rest of the family.

"Look at our big bad hybrid Grinch!"

Elijah's brother looked rather grimly while his siblings bursted out laughing.

"Oh, you'll feel my sweet revenge, mischievous little Christmas elf."

She shrieked when Nik suddenly threw her over his shoulder and carried her outside. When she noticed that he walked towards the pool, she knew what he was about to do and hammered her fists on his back.

"Nik, no! No, no, no!"

Her yells were muffled by her laughter. But of course the hybrid did not listen. Grace desperately tried to grab a hold of him to at least take him down with her, but with ease he simply threw her inside the ice cold pool. Not that she minded the temperature, but the 'humiliation' by being soaked with water was what Nik targeted at.

The hybrid and the vampire stared at each other, playful hostility in their eyes, but seconds later they couldn't keep the laughter in anymore. Nik fished her out of the pool and they exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Grace suddenly rushed towards Elijah who just came out of the door to check on them and kissed him while pressing her body with her still dripping clothes to him, staining his neat suit with it. Elijah lightly hissed while nudging and tickling her.

After they changed into dry clothes, they found Rebekah, Nik and Kol already preparing the cookie dough and making a mess of the kitchen doing it. This left Grace and Elijah to prepare the duck for dinner, which was a good idea as they were the most capable cooks in the family.

For a while they simply worked in peace, only interrupted by some bickering coming from the siblings discussing if the texture of the cookies was well enough. Rebekah was actually just making a mess while her brothers took the bowl with the dough from her every five seconds.

Elijah and Grace on the other hand worked hand in hand, so the duck was stuffed and prepared quickly and put in the oven early so it would be perfect by dinner time. Now Grace stood in front of the cooker, putting a shot of red wine into the dark sauce while humming tunes of Christmas songs. Elijah was beside her, preparing a fine salad. The woman he loved held out a spoon with sauce on it out to him so he could taste it.

"A bit more salt and pepper...and I recommend more wine."

The last addition to his words he said with a teasing smile. He pushed her still damp hair over her shoulder and placed his hand on the back of her neck to pull her in for a chaste kiss.

"Can you please stop being adorable? It's sickening."

Kol immediately mocked and also Nik grimaced, just Rebekah smiled sweetly at them, still feeling that slight sting of envy in her heart.

Some time later, they all sat at the dining table and Elijah, as the oldest brother, cut the duck to pieces and put it on the plates his siblings and Grace held out to him. They all ate the amazing tasting food, while drinking delicate wine, accompanied by their chatter and laughter. Grace enjoyed this moment, thinking that it couldn't be more perfect. She took Elijah's hand under the table and squeezed it lightly. He flashed her a loving smile before he took another sip of wine.

When they all finished eating, Kol grinned at his family.

"It's not a perfect Christmas evening if we don't hold up our oldest family tradition."

Every one but Grace scowled and groaned. The young vampire looked around confused and curious at what traditions the Viking family kept for so long.

"What am I missing? I'm all in for family tradition."

Kol barked out a laugh.

"See, finally we're on the same page, love. We write down our wishes and burn them for luck in a bonfire."

Excitedly, she threw pleading glances at Nik and Elijah, who simultaneously rolled their eyes. They both knew how hard it was to resist Grace if she gave them the Gilbert-trademark doe eyes.

"Oh come on, that sounds amazing. We're doing it!"

"Considering our story it's quite ridiculous because no wish had come true yet, but whatever you wish for, Gracie."

Nik said with a grim look, but stood up together with his brother to get some wood to the fireplace while Rebekah and Grace put the dishes into the dishwasher.

"Thanks, Gracie. We needed this."

Rebekah suddenly said and pulled the younger vampire in for a hug.

"To be honest I don't want this evening to ever stop. Why can't it always be like this?"

Sighing, she hugged the blonde back. Grace was afraid of the next day. She knew that after this lovely evening, it would be even more painful the fact that by tomorrow they all would fight each other on different sides again.

"Maybe some day it will. At least it made us hate each other a little less."

The women chuckled and walked outside the join the brothers. Wood was already burning and the fire radiated off a comfortable warmth. On her way out Grace paper and some pens and handed it to all the family members.

I wish, that some day, it'll always be like this.

She scribbled down in her messy handwriting and folded the paper before she threw it into the fire. This was a beautiful tradition, regardless if the wishes came true or not. After Elijah had finished the small ritual, she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder and watched the fire. At this moment, she was so calm, content and filled with hope. Elijah placed a kiss on her hair and lightly caressed her arm.

They were the happiest now. There was a chance that the family could find their way back to each other, this evening proved that they could live side by side in peace. Grace banished every upcoming melancholy and simply held onto the thought that she could help keeping them together. Family and love was their greatest strength.

Of course she couldn't imagine at that point that tomorrow around this time, they will have lost one of the loved ones standing around the bonfire.


	52. Chapter 52

It was ironic how they all slipped back into their more hostile selves just a day after they pretended to be a perfect dysfunctional family. The morning after, Nik, Elijah and Grace sat in their living room, conspiring against Kol, discussing which was the best way to take him out and save Jeremy and Damon with it. Of course the matter of simply killing Damon came to surface, but they all knew that that wouldn't stop Kol. The easiest way was to dagger the Mikaelson brother and keep him in a box until Grace's little brother lived a healthy human life.

Grace drowned shots of Bourbon in desperation and earned worried glances from Elijah whenever she took a sip. He knew that she only drank when she was trying to bury something inside herself and Elijah was sure that she felt guilty for even thinking of daggering his little brother. She had fought for Elijah when he laid in that box, but no one would do that for Kol. Still, she certainly knew that it was inevitable to save her own brother. At least that way no one had to die.

The Original vampire rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"Rebekah has the last remaining dagger. We need her to hand it over."

Sighing, Grace shook her head at Nik's words.

"Which she won't do because she doesn't trust you one bit. Understandably."

The hybrid stood up and started to pace around the which drove Grace nuts. She had the deep urge to throw her glass at him. So much trouble had come up because he had to dagger Rebekah and lie about it.

"Elijah, why don't you use your brotherly charms and make her?"

He came to a halt in front of his brother who now rolled his eyes. Elijah hated standing in the middle in this feud. The Original would've loved to deny his younger brother this, but he knew that he didn't have a choice in this.

"I won't persuade her by force, Niklaus. I'll need time. Let's hope that she realize that I would never use it against her."

His words were nearly a sour hiss. Every fiber of his body hated this plan. Elijah knew that he often enough had his hands in Niklaus' plans to dagger Kol in the past, but he had sworn to himself that this would stop by now. He knew how it felt. The never ending darkness. The feeling of utter loneliness and valuable time taken from him.

"Great, I'll send you some help."

Nik dialed a number and spoke to Stefan who should help charm Rebekah into handing the dagger over. Grace threw a worried glance at her love, but he only nodded, reassuring her that he was ok.

"Stefan just asked if we could take over prison duty for a compelled Salvatore brother. Up for it, Gracie?"

She nodded and jumped to her feet after drowning the last shot of booze. The amber liquid burnt down her throat while she stretched her tense muscles.

Grace couldn't care less about Damon's well being, but she knew that Nik's temper was too easily lit by the snarky Salvatore's comments and Grace had to admit that it had something calming to see Damon desiccate.

Surprisingly, Nik behaved. Even though Damon couldn't help but mock him for trying to get advice out of him to make Caroline forgive him. Grace actually found it cute. Killing Carol was an action of his more darker personality, he didn't really think the consequences through and now he was trying to make up for it. This was character development and Grace had to admit that she was a little proud.

Still there was this dark cloud hanging over them.

He's not good enough for you.

Has he ever really seen the way his brother was treating her? To him, she was the most precious being on the world. Elijah handled her with respect and all the love she could wish for. But despite Grace being sure of what Elijah felt for her, Nik had planted doubt in her. She knew that there was a part in Elijah that was savage and cruel and that she had yet to see the amount of it. Grace knew that he would literally do everything for his family. What she was more afraid of was that she could be sure of the fact that she would love him anyways. The young vampire would probably stay by his side even if he committed the darkest deeds possible.

Grace let Damon and Nik bicker, excluding herself from it to have a moment to think. She was only ripped out of her thoughts when Nik's phone rang and Kol shouted insults into the speaker. Both Nik and Grace had to listen intensely to make out from his mumbling that Elena and Jeremy were trying to kill him and that he believed that they had something to do with it, which of course wasn't true.

Waves of anger rose to her mind and she clenched her hands into fists. But before she could question Damon, Nik did the deed for her. He pressed the older Salvatore against the wall easily by his throat and compelled him to answer if he knew anything. But of course he didn't know anything because he was locked in here since yesterday.

So it was a plot made up all by Grace's siblings. Saying that she couldn't believe it was the understand of the year. How could they be stupid enough to try and kill an Original?

Of course.

Killing Kol would complete Jeremy's mark, as it would kill all his sirelings. This was the most fierce and stupid plan she ever heard. Were they really up to move on from threats to action to kill a part of her family?

"Nik, we need to go."

Grace growled after quickly calling Elijah. The hybrid looked like he was about to rip Damon's throat out, but he let him go after compelling him to stay in the cellar.

"I'm gonna rip your siblings apart, Gracie, be sure of that."

Nik stated as they together rushed out of the Salvatore mansion. The younger laughed bitterly.

"Not if I get to them first. Those aren't my siblings anymore."

They shared a determined glance to which Nik nodded, trusting his friend completely. Elijah joined them shortly after, an angered expression on his face, the dagger clutched in his hand.

"You really convinced her."

The Original didn't even look at his brother, he simply wanted to get the Gilbert house to get Kol out of there.

"Rebekah decided to see the bigger picture."

Honestly, daggering Kol was the least of their problems now. Grace knew her siblings and Kol carried the white oak stake with him. Of course he was stronger than them, but his ego would keep him from fleeing and it could get him killed. He underestimated Jeremy's newfound abilities.

From afar she could see that the entrance door was wide open. It soon proofed Grace's worries right. The two Original brothers and her stopped in their tracks when they entered the porch and saw what was unfolding in front of them. Kol's body was burning, stumbling and eventually falling to the wooden floor lifelessly.

Grace's eyes widened and there was pure, utter shock written all over her face, while mind was blank, not really processing what she just saw.

Kol was dead.

Her siblings killed him.

"Elena..."

Jeremy was the first to see the trio in front of the door. He looked at them with panic in his eyes, for a moment being back to the little teenage boy Grace could call her brother.

Elijah and Grace, as being the ones who had been invited in before, wanted to rush inside, but it was as if they ran against a wall. The Original caught his love before she could fall, but the expression of hatred and betrayal never left his face.

Grace snarled, her upper lip curled upwards, savagery written all over her, directed at her own blood. It was what shocked Jeremy and Elena and made them realize what just happened. Kol's family had seen it all. But they never before, despite all the fights they had, had seen this look on their sister. For this moment, they weren't her family anymore, they were nothing more than enemies.

"We changed the deed to Jeremy's name. You can't enter."

The doppelgänger was the first to find words. She looked down to Kol's corpse and then pulled the white oak stake out of body coldly.

"Oh, but we can wait."

Grace hissed at her sister, cruel insanity radiating off her. From the corner of her eyes she saw that a single tear fell down on Nik's cheek and it broke her heart. She herself couldn't cry right now. She was too angry.

Suddenly, pain exploded in their heads and all three of them fell to their knees. A scream escaped Grace's lips, it felt like her head was ging to explode. She felt someone step through them and she tried to reach out for the source, but it only made it worse.

When the pain vanished, Grace panted heavily, seeing that Bonnie now stood between Jeremy and Elena, staring at the trio in front of her with a raised hand. This pain had been magic casted onto them and it made the level of violence and rage inside them go through the roof. The men shuffled in front of her, their instincts, which was the only thing working right now, telling them to protect their most vulnerable member. But Grace didn't feel vulnerable. She felt murderous and she had to admit that she imagined to rip her sisters heart out.

"Invite them in."

Bonnie stated. It was then when they should've known that this was a trap. But they were too way over the edge to even think straight.

After some hesitation, Jeremy said the word and all three of them stormed inside, shattering furniture and lunging at Bonnie, Jeremy and Elena. They were so close to getting a hold of them, but suddenly, when they reached the living room, they ran again this invisible wall, like before. But this time it was a magical barrier, they all pounded heavily against it, but of course it wasn't of any use. They were trapped in here and the other trio stood in front of them as if they were there simply to mock them.

While Nik and Elijah's eyes started to advert towards the burnt corpse of their brother, Grace was still full on rage. She stood as close as she could in front of Elena and stared her right in the eyes.

"Grace, it was necessary! He would've killed Jeremy! We just defended ourselves."

Elena's whiny voice started another headache of huge magnitude inside Grace's head. Her fists started to shake violently.

"Stop pretending like you haven't planned this all day!"

Grace felt the veins around her eyes pulsate, still, slowly but steadily, tears came to her eyes.

"He wanted to murder our brother! Can't you see it?"

"We had the dagger! We were about to put him in a box for as long as Jeremy lives. It would've undone the compulsion. I wanted to save Jeremy, overcoming every last bit of morals I had left, but you simply couldn't have for once called me! We could've talked like civilized persons, Elena but it's over. Don't you dare ever call yourself my sister again."

Elena took a step back backwards and nearly tripped over the carpet. How much Grace would've loved to take that dagger from Elijah's hand and throw it right through her skull. Maybe that would teach her how Grace handled people that hurt her family.

"...It wasn't about the threat towards Jeremy here, isn't it? You had the cure in mind."

Nik stepped to her side and Grace took his hand and squeezed it before reaching out to Elijah and doing the same. They needed to stand united here. Grace had no clue how she should handle the brothers now, their grief was yet to come to surface.

Jeremy looked down to the floor and Grace had the answer. It was obvious in her brother's eyes. She laughed bitterly, sounding entirely creepy.

"Of course! Sweet little Elena again let heads roll for her own purposes. Why did I even wonder?"

Now it was Elena's turn to go into her sister's face.

"The cure is for us all, Grace! Everyone who wants to take it."

Grace shook her head smiling wickedly.

"Do you really believe that? They're all trying to get for you, Elena. I couldn't care less about that damned thing, but still I helped, because I knew it was your wish to become human again. We all live with being a vampire, without complaining about it every day. Except you. Do you even see how selfish you are? You destroyed Jeremy's innocence, because of you he killed people. You made him kill Kol and all those vampires sired by him. Because I know that Jeremy didn't know better, I will be able to forgive him, but you, Elena, you are the true murderer in here."

She knew that she hit Elena right in the heart with her words.

"...Look us in the eyes, Elena. We're the family of the man you just murdered. Can you even imagine being responsible for the destruction of a thousand other families? Because all the vampires that fell with Kol had loved ones, too. For them, we stand here, always being a remembrance of the moment when you became a murderer, sister."

The last word was spat out like it was toxic. Elena stayed silent which tempered Grace even more.

"Come on, you have the white oak stake still in your hands, we're cornered. Kill us, Elena! It's the best chance you'll ever have! Do it!"

Grace yelled and it seemed to rip Elijah out from being frozen in spot. He wrapped his arm around her waist and tried to hold her back. She fought him for a short while but then sunk into his arms as all the energy suddenly left her. Elijah needed to be strong for her now.

"I recommend you let us go now, Bonnie, so we can bury our brother in dignity. It's the last he has left."

His voice was deadly calm, it was a tone many people had learned to fear. But now that they couldn't defend themselves, they dared do show confidence.

"Sorry, Elijah. We can't do that. What keeps you from killing us?"

Bonnie raised her chin and Elijah had to swallow a lot of pride to not rage out immediately. He was the oldest brother, he needed to be strong for them, he reminded himself again. They killed two of his brothers. Grace was completely right, but there was nothing they could do about it.

"Nothing."

Nik growled and glared at the witch. It seemed like they understood it as their hint to leave. For a moment, the three of them were alone. Unfortunately it gave them time to think, to process what happened. Their eyes were fixated on what was remaining of Kol. Tears spilled over Grace's cheeks. This was humiliating. Kol might have been a horrible person, but he didn't deserve this, lying exposed, burnt, for everyone to see. It was beyond cruel.

Grace's whole body shivered when she slung her arms around the brothers. She pulled them close and buried her face in Elijah's shoulder, letting her tears fall freely.

They had a perfect day yesterday. Now it was ruined. The Mikaelsons lost another family member, a hole that they could never close. But beyond that Grace felt so guilty because it were her siblings that done it.


	53. Chapter 53

"You're disgusting, you know that, do you?"

Grace glared at Tyler and Caroline who put a blanket over Kol's burnt corpse. She stood beside Nik as they both couldn't pry their eyes off the youngest Mikaelson brother, while Elijah, as usual, distracted himself by figuring a way to get them all out of here. They've spent some hours locked in, there was no sign of Rebekah. She probably had went off with the others to find the cure.

Caroline send the oldest Gilbert a look. The blonde knew herself that this was humiliating, one of the most disrespectful deeds she ever done. Sighing, she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Grace. We can't let you out and I'm sure you don't want a burnt corpse in your home."

Tyler chirped in and Grace clenched her hands into fists. She started to pace in the room, so she wouldn't smash something or throw at the hybrid.

"Thanks for your heartfelt concern, but this isn't my home anymore."

Elijah could barely watch his love that upset. He needed to stay calm, but pure rage was close under his composed surface. The Original had enough reason to want them all dead, seeing Grace this torment only added to that pile. For all this time he only wanted peace for her, a carefree life and now he could nothing to help her. This was messing with her mind.

"Why don't you rest a little? If we have to endure three days in here and Miss Forbes isn't generous enough to give you some blood bags, you'll need your strength."

He sat down on the sofa and motioned for her to follow. Grace stared at him torn for a while, but in the end she decided that he was right and her pacing was senseless anyway. With a sigh, she fell down on the worn, old sofa of her former home and snuggled on Elijah's chest, leaning her head on his shoulder. Gently he pulled a blanket that had laid on the couch around her slender shoulders.

From the corner of his eye, Elijah could see that Caroline looked at them with a torn expression, the corners of her mouth moving slightly upwards when she saw how loving Grace and Elijah acted around each other.

"If we give Grace blood, what keeps Klaus from taking it for himself?"

It was obvious that it was Tyler who showed his less merciful side here. The hybrid knew that Grace and Elijah weren't his enemies, still for him, they were collateral damage. He hated Klaus so deeply, he loathed the ones that stood by his sires side, too. Anyways the Mikaelsons after all stuck together. Letting one free would ruin everything.

Nik growled at the younger hybrid's words. They grazed a part of his pride that shouldn't be messed with.

"You can accuse me of everything you want, but do never dare to say that I could do anything to harm this girl."

Grace lifted her head and looked over Elijah's shoulder to meet Nik's eyes. She smiled at him, touched by his words.

"Oh, you wouldn't? Wasn't it you that killed her just to annoy your brother? Let's not forget that we're standing in the house were Jenna lived...who you sacrificed on a blood altar."

For a split second, Elijah's hand paused caressing her shoulder as he remembered that moment of horror when he found out that Grace was turned into a vampire because of him. Grace sighed and took his hand, interlacing their fingers.

"Just for you to know, I like him despite his...flaws. So could we please stop taking me as an example here?"

Annoyed, she rolled her eyes, blocking the bickering that started out for a while by letting her head sink back onto Elijah's chest. She immediately calmed by just hearing and feeling the steady rhythm of his breath. Lightly, she played with his daylight ring. Never had she expected it more closely. It was a relict from a thousand years ago, but still timelessly beautiful in its simplicity.

"Would you take the cure?"

The question came out of nowhere and Grace looked up to Elijah with a frown. But it seemed like he really was interested in her answer.

"No, I wouldn't. I think I like myself more this way. And if I'm being honest...despite all the horror, the last few months have been the best of my life...and you?"

A slight smile played around Elijah's lips. It was one of his most lurking fears that it was true that he ruined her life by stepping into it. But in contrary to her siblings, Grace was the only one that didn't see the Mikaelsons as a curse. That was all that mattered to him.

He took a moment to think about the questions. Elijah pulled her closer to his chest, feeling her strong heartbeat against his. Her warm breath stroked the sensitive of his neck.

"I wouldn't. Even if the thought of having children with you and grow old with you by my side sounds lovely, some decades would never be enough. I want an eternity."

Touched by his words, her hands lightly shook as she tried to hold back tears of joy. She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand.

"...Believe me, Grace, you have changed a lot. A year ago I would've thought differently."

But before Grace could dig deeper into the topic, a loud rumbling sound came from behind them and when they turned around, Caroline was in Nik's arms and he bit down into the blonde's neck forcefully.

Grace and Elijah both stared at the hybrid in shock. He pushed Caroline back to Tyler and smiled his signature cruel smile with blood smeared lips.

"Well that was definitely worth the calories."

...

Nik had to endure a whole speech of curse words from Grace after Tyler and Caroline left. His impulsiveness had led him into being a stupid idiot again and now he was too stubborn to cure the poor girl just to prove a point. Grace would've loved to slap this smug grin off his face and talk some sense into him.

But in the end she took a page from Elijah's playbook and let him live with the consequences. Sometime she admired the oldest living Mikaelson brother for his restraint. He always seemed so calm and composed, even tough she knew that it looked quite different on the inside.

Surprisingly, Tyler brought Caroline back inside the house after they had vanished for some time after she was bitten. Of course it was to call to the crush the hybrid had for the blonde vampire and hope that he would heal her on his own.

For a while Nik shut himself off the emotions coming to surface. Caroline laid on the couch, breathing shallowly, it was obvious that she was in horrible pain. Grace could barely see it.

The words Caroline spoke to Nik stung in Grace's heart.

Everyone who's capable of love is worth being saved.

For a girl like Caroline it was really wise and absolutely right. Nik stared at her, tears slowly starting to pool in his eyes, but still he did nothing.

Grace couldn't watch it anymore. She shook her head sighing and walked over to the other young vampire and sat behind her, gently placing the blonde's head in her lap. Her fingers combed her soft hair and she tried her best to make it comfortable for the dying girl. She even tried to ease her pain with her abilities, but she wasn't yet strong enough to really let it help.

"Thank you."

Caroline whispered and Grace shushed her, implying that it was ok. Looking up to her friend, Grace shot Nik a pleading glance. He could save her, he just for once had to show mercy. That girl didn't deserve to die, they all knew it.

"Please, Nik. You'll never forgive yourself."

A low growl escaped Nik's lips. His mind raced, not sure what to do. The prideful, dark side of him refused to heal Caroline to proof a point. But the person that Grace called to loved the blonde vampire.

When Caroline suddenly gasped painfully, her skin slowly starting to get grey, Nik's heart made a decision.

"Caroline."

He walked over to her quickly and offered her his wrist. Grace didn't leave Caroline's side and she smiled lightly when Nik's eyes met hers. She took a deep, relieved breath and looked up to Elijah, who also smiled proudly.

Today, a side of Niklaus won that everyone had thought to be long lost. Even Elijah had believed so for some time. But not the stubborn brunette vampire that never ceased to trigger the best in people.

...

The day dragged on and it was driving Grace crazy. She wasn't used to be out of the action anymore, locked up like a zoo animal, watched by people that hated the family she belonged to. Elijah tried to comfort her the best he could, but his facade was cracking. It was obvious that he was worried about his sister and that he too hated the fact that he was powerless here, nearly exposed.

When the problem of Tyler and Caroline's inability to translate Aramaic came up, it was a relieving distraction. Klaus and Elijah both spoke and understood the dead language fluently and also Grace had once taken a course in it, which gave the trio a huge advantage.

For a while, Grace and Elijah simply worked together, translating the tattoo on Jeremy's arm, while Nik figured out the riddle on the hunter's sword's handle. It felt like old times, those carefree moments they shared when they just met each other, working together on something.

They shared most of the information of the translation with Tyler, Caroline and the group on the island, but the vital fact that the cure only had one dose they held back. It became useful when Nik suddenly spilled it to Rebekah on the phone, even if it felt like using the blonde Original.

Over these few months Nik, Elijah and Grace had learnt to work smoothly together, they could communicate without even using words. Even now they managed to change the situation into their favor. If they just wouldn't be locked in here...

After more hours of waiting and a developing claustrophobia in Grace, the barrier was suddenly down. Nik was the first to notice. Every now and then he pushed against the invisible wall desperately, but suddenly he could step through it.

"It's down."

He said with widened eyes to which Grace and Elijah reacted immediately. They together rushed out of the living room, without knocking against the barrier and stared into the air in wonder.

Something must've happened to Bonnie. Either she died or used too much power to hold up the barrier. Grace surprised herself by not caring one bit. She knew the girl since she was an infant, but lately the witch had done nothing but hurt her family. Bonnie helped Esther with the ritual to kill the Mikaelsons and her action of locking them all in here still lit Grace's rage.

She took a deep, relieved breath and then they all walked out of the house only to find Caroline on the porch in tears. The blonde looked shocked when she saw the trio exiting the house. She probably didn't know what happened yet, so there was no useable information to get out of here.

Even if Grace had comforted the girl when she was dying, she couldn't help but hold the grudge against her now. They all willingly accepted that the three of them were locked in here. As if they were the danger here. Wasn't it them that killed Kol and wasn't it Tyler that threatened to cure and then kill Nik? Their problem was that they all knew that Grace and Elijah would stay by the hybrid's side, whatever would happen.

Nik stopped and looked at the blonde, he wanted to talk to her. Elijah saw it and lightly grabbed his love's arm, implying that she should keep moving.

"We should leave them for a while."

Grace nodded and snuggled close to Elijah as they silently walked back home. She only then noticed how tired and drained off any energy she was. Unfortunately they only had blood bags home, but she also wasn't up to go on a hunting spree in some shabby diners. Another point why she started to hate Mystic Falls. The humans really started to cut off their resources by unbeknownst to the people not knowing about vampires feeding them vervain.

The young woman dreamt of going back to New York. Or Seattle. She also had heard Nik and Kol talking about New Orleans lately.

Kol...she never would have the chance to get to know him better. When they had their Christmas dinner, Grace found something out about him. He maybe a dick without any self control, but if they gave him the chance to feel loved and belonging to his family, he was as loyal as the others. That was the beauty of the Mikaelson family. In the end they all sticked together. Always and forever.

Together Grace and Elijah fed off some blood bags and showered before falling into their huge bed exhausted. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him as close as she could. Grace was so lucky to have him by her side. They gave each other what they needed and in this moment it was pure comfort.

But when Grace thought that it couldn't get any worse, she was cursed to be yet again wrong. She had yet to learn to what amount 'torment' and 'pain' could grow when being a vampire.

She had hoped to start the next morning at least halfway normal. Maybe she would talk to Nik and Elijah about a proper funeral for Kol and wait for Rebekah's return.

As always, Grace slept a while longer than Elijah and he had managed to get up and dressed without bothering her much needed sleep. When Grace walked down the stairs into the kitchen, she smelled coffee, but also heard Elijah's faint mumbling. He was on the phone and when he turned around to face her, Grace immediately knew that something was wrong.

She lifted her brows, eager to know what happened now, but when she saw how his eyes darkened even further, it dawned to her. Grace had seen this look more often than she wanted to.

Someone had died.

"I will tell her. Thank you, Caroline."

Elijah said politely before ending his call. He then simply stared at her, his jaw lightly moving, lips pressed into a thin line. Again a motion of him that Grace knew all to well. The Original didn't know what to say. It didn't happen often that he was at a loss of words.

"Who has died?"

The young vampire said bluntly. Elijah sighed and looked down to the marble floor.

"Grace, maybe, you should sit down first."

He tried to wrap an arm around her and guide her to the chair, but she shrugged him off annoyedly. It was cute that he was trying to calm her even before he delivered the bad news, but it was honestly getting on her nerves as she wanted to know what was going on.

"Elijah. Please, speak. It's driving me crazy."

A distressed and sad look crossed his handsome features. He looked her right in the eyes when he said the words.

"It's Jeremy...He..."

"No."

She interrupted him before he could say 'died'. A maniacal laugh escaped her lips as she looked up to Elijah. It was ironic. Too horrible to be true.

"Grace, I...I'm sorry. Your brother...passed on that island."

Elijah spoke softly, his usually so strong voice barely able to get out the sentence. Why her? How much pain can one person endure? When will it finally stop for her? Grace was strong, stronger than everyone Elijah had met in his long life, but he knew that right now this wasn't a life worth living. She had lost so much. Both her families had cost her so much.

"You know it's just funny. How many catastrophes can happen in a lifespan? I mean, my parents literally drive off a bridge, I kind of died twice, Elena died, Kol died yesterday and now Jeremy? So much bad luck just can be a joke, right? It's not even possible. What have I done, Elijah? Do I deserve this?"

Her uncontrolled laughter turned into sobs and she finally let Elijah comfort her. He mumbled soothing words, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Elijah did everything he could, he was again being simply so perfect, he always did the right thing. Still, it only helped to a degree that she knew that she wasn't alone.

"Wait...Caroline told you? I mean, she's a liar. They all hate us. Maybe this is just a really, really bad joke."

Quickly she wiped the tears away and grabbed her phone. The Original sighed and wanted to say something, but he let her. Maybe it was what she needed. Maybe she needed to hear it from someone else to process it.

"Elena. Where's Jeremy? Tell me that you weren't stupid enough to let him die on that freakin' island."

Her voice was cold, a tone reserved only for her dearest sister. Elena ad betrayed her in unimaginable ways, so Grace actually could believe that she played her a prank of that magnitude.

"I'm sorry. Jeremy is dead."

The doppelgänger said plainly, without any emotion in her voice. She immediately hung up on Grace. The silence that came afterwards shattered Grace into a million pieces as the iron grip of grief had her heart in a tight grasp.

Her phone dropped out of her hand and on the floor. Grace's body shivered and her lips were parted. Elijah stood beside her, having no clue what to do with her. She didn't react to anything and the Original was afraid to touch her. It was like she could break at any second.

"I...I need to go. I need to see him."

Grace stormed off and Elijah followed her, feeling utterly powerless. The only thing he could do was to stand by her and protect her from any harm that she couldn't be aware of in those painful times. They walked past Niklaus who threw a confused gaze at Grace's upset figure and Elijah only motioned for him to follow. Grace needed everyone she cared for right now and his brother had a certain connection of friendship with her that was now vital.

When they reached the Gilbert home, Elena just walked out of the house, flanked by both Salvatore brothers. The symmetry of the moment was nearly ironic. Grace and Elena walked towards each other, both of them having brothers behind them that caused the abrupt changed in their lives.

The strong smell of smoke hit Grace's senses and as she realized that her former home was burning, she saw red.

"What have you done?"

She hissed at her sister. Elena looked Grace in the eyes, but she was completely void of emotion. Elijah and Nik noticed what happened more quickly than Grace did.

"I fixed the problem. We needed to get rid of the body."

The older Gilbert's eyes widened and she grabbed Elena by her shoulders and shook her violently.

"Are you out of your mind?! This is Jeremy! You're burning our brother!"

Both Salvatores got in between them and took Grace's hands off Elena. It made the Mikaelson brothers react.

"Don't touch her."

Elijah send a glare at Damon and Stefan, disgusted by the scene unfolding in front of him. They had made Elena turn off her humanity. This was below any sense of dignity.

"We needed to get rid of the tracks. I only did what had to be done."

It was enough for Grace. She wanted to kill Elena in this moment. Grace lunged forward but was stopped by Elijah's arms wrapping around her waist to prevent her from doing something she would regret. She screamed and fought against his grip, but he of course was stronger.

Damon stepped towards Grace, his expression dark, eager to protect Elena, but Nik stood in his way with a cold smile.

"Careful, Damon. Remember Gracie has the better bodyguards."

The older Salvatore spared a look at his younger brother and then they simply kept walking, brushing past the trio.

Grace was now limp in Elijah's arms. Tears streamed down her face and she was staring up the house she grew up in, as it slowly started to go up in flames. The place were her brother's corpse burned.

With every death of a loved one Grace had to witness, a part of her heart turned to stone. With Jeremy's death it was the most prominent. What just happened also again made clear that she had lost Elena. That wasn't her sister anymore.

The only thing that was keeping her together was the knowledge that she still had the Mikaelsons. They stood by her side and took her in as family. Without them she would be alone in the world.

She allowed herself to cry. Elijah held her close and kept her from running foolishly into the burning house. All three of them stood there and watched Grace's past burn to the ground.


	54. Chapter 54

Although Grace was so exhausted and tired from all what happened in the last two days, her mind just wouldn't let her sleep. Usually simply Elijah's presence calmed her enough to find peace, but not today. At least he slept soundly beside her.

It was way after midnight when she decided that she needed to stand up and move a bit. Doing nothing only let her thoughts divert to the trauma of Kol's and Jeremy's deaths and she couldn't cry anymore.

Carefully, she wiggled out of Elijah's embrace, eager not to wake his light sleep. She spared a loving look at him, feeling guilty because she put him through such a hard time. He also was grieving and she should be there for him, too, but she couldn't. Grace couldn't let him in right now, she was just so broken on the inside, she was afraid that it would consume him, too.

Without making any sound, she rushed out of the room and down the hallway. But when she reached the stairs leading downwards, her sensitive senses were triggered by a light noise coming from the kitchen. It wasn't Nik, as she could hear his steady breath coming from his room.

Was a thief or any other criminal really stupid enough to break into the household of the most powerful creatures walking the earth and steal from them. A cruel smile passed her face when she thought about the meal she would have.

Within the blink of a second she was in the kitchen and had the intruder grabbed on the throat. It was then when she noticed that she knew the face that was in front of her. Hayley.

She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that the chance of fresh snack just faded. With a frown, she let go of the werewolf and put on the light.

"What are you doing here?"

Hayley suddenly blurted, holding her throbbing neck. Grace just lifted an eyebrow, still confused about the fact that the werewolf was here. Her gaze was nervous, but she didn't look like she came in here uninvited. Grace didn't her assume her to be that stupid.

"Um, I live here..."

She lifted a brow at the younger girl.

"Uh...yeah...I forgot...um, I was just trying to find something to eat."

Hayley bit her lower lip and it was then when it dawned on Grace. Of course. Sighing, she rolled her eyes. Did he really have a fling with this insecure, snappy werewolf and then didn't even give her some kind of dignity back by offering her some food and eat it with her? The romantic and decent streak in the family obviously was something only Rebekah and Elijah inherited. Must've come from Mikael's side, which was a pretty ridiculous thought.

Anyways, Nik definitely had a lecture and some comments to fear in the morning.

"You can choose between blood bags and pizza. Sorry, didn't have time to shop."

With an amused smile on her face, she opened the fridge and freezer and held up a blood bag and a frozen pizza. Hayley scrunched her nose in disgust when she looked at the blood bag, to which Grace laughed.

"Great, more for me."

She turned on the oven and put the pizza inside while opening the blood bag and drinking from it. The young werewolf watched her with a furrowed brow, she obviously hadn't often seen vampires feed before.

Elijah told her about the natural hostility vampires and werewolves held for each other. Grace could feel it in herself, the instinct to stay away from the wolf. With Nik she felt it more faintly, but it wasn't so prominent that it would influence her behavior.

"Well, seems like you lied to me. You told me that you don't like men with that much depth and then you choose freakin' Niklaus Mikaelson to bang?"

Grace suppressed a laugh when she saw Hayley's cheeks grow deep red. The usually so confident girl suddenly seemed very comfortable and even a bit intimidated by her one night stand's best friend.

"That honestly wasn't meant to be deep...God, this is so weird."

Now Grace couldn't help but chuckle, but she tried to muffle it to not wake the boys upstairs.

"True. But I suggest you run for the hills now, unless you want to get sucked into Mikaelson family drama. We've got a lot recently."

With a sigh, she sat on a chair. Hayley joined her.

"I've heard about your brother. I'm sorry..."

Grace flashed her a small smile.

"Thanks."

With that she ended the topic quietly. The young women shared the pizza in silence. Strangely it helped Grace calm a bit. Talking to someone uninvolved in all of this was refreshing.

When they finished, Hayley stood up and shouldered her backpack.

"Grace...Thank you...you've been kind to me...Elijah, too."

Lightly smiling, Grace put the dishes in the sink and then turned around to the wolf.

"I'll tell him. You're welcome. Just stay safe on your way, ok?"

Hayley nodded after biting her lip again. She rushed off without saying anything else. Grace knew why. The young woman was conflicted, for the first time in a long time someone had welcomed her. Grace herself had made the same experience when she met Elijah. Still, it was better for Hayley to go. Mystic Falls wasn't a safe place for someone between the sides.

Grace couldn't shake off the feeling that she would see this girl again somewhere. She just had this feeling that this wasn't the end of Hayley's story with the Mikaelsons. It was probably ridiculous, how should this girl ever be involved with them again?

In the morning Grace found out that it was Katherine Pierce that killed Jeremy. Caroline let it slip while she was talking to Nik on the door. She had come to convince Grace to help keep Elena in check. Thankfully, Nik proved to be a loyal friend and didn't let Caroline in, so Grace wouldn't be bothered with something she had no interest in.

Now she sat on her bed, clenching her fists, not sure where to let all that anger that had built inside her off. In contrary to Elena, Grace never had much to do with Katherine. She only had seen the older doppelgänger once so far.

Elijah stood in the doorframe, looking at her in silence. They stayed like this, staring at each other, both of them trying to figure out a plan.

"I can help you kill her, Grace. But in five hundred years, Niklaus never managed to find her."

Shaking her head, she stood up. From the corner of her eyes she saw her reflection in the mirror. She looked horrible. Her skin was even paler than usual, deep blue bags were under her dark eyes.

"True, but he had plenty distractions. Right now, I can't think about anything else. I don't even want to kill her, I just want the cure out of her hands, so she'll can continue her eternal misery, before she'll beg me to kill her."

Grace hissed. With a frown on his face, Elijah stepped forward and cupped her cheek with his hand. She sounded exactly like Niklaus and right now they were both in the same spiraling state. Elijah could barely see her suffer that much, he wanted to help her, but she didn't really let him. Grace needed to see that revenge wouldn't last. It would just make her into a person, that wasn't herself anymore. He just had to save her.

"Grace..."

He started, but she interrupted him before he could begin his lecture.

"I need your help, Elijah. Please. You're the only one who she would possibly make a deal with. It's not even true revenge, I just want to protect our family. Katherine's reckless, she could try and shove the cure down Nik's or your throat. Believe me, I don't want her anywhere close to you, but it's our only chance..."

Grace knew that there was a time where Elijah had feelings for Katherine. But she knew that it was long over. Still, she could feel that little sting of jealousy when she knew that Elijah had to meet with his former lover. But they needed to end this feud and there was no other way.

Elijah felt that she was thinking about the relationship Katherine and he shared all this time ago. He sighed and gently kissed her forehead.

"I will find her for you. But Grace, promise me something. You will not get yourself in danger and never, never think that I care in any way for this woman. I understand why you want her to suffer. But what do you want to do about your sister?"

If he thought that she would finally let him in, it was over quicker than he could imagine. It was a mistake to mention Elena. Her face hardened and she turned away from him to get out her suitcase.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

It wasn't their first time together on the road, but still, it was the most intense. They felt the closest together, while at the same time being emotionally widest apart. Even after some days went by, Grace still had trouble letting Elijah in. Not because she didn't trust him, but the chaos inside her was just so huge that she didn't know where to start.

But her rage never ceased.

Elijah himself slipped easily into his more colder self when they tracked down messengers connecting to Katherine. They all quivered in fear when they saw the Original vampire, rightfully so. Grace never felt more power and authority radiate off him than now. To be honest she found it interesting to see him that way, it made her understand why the Original family were legends and so awfully feared.

Together they questioned, threatened and killed all those lackeys until they got Katherine's phone number. What surprised Grace was that the doppelgänger was willing to make a deal with Elijah. After all this time she still seemed to trust him to a certain degree.

The couple and Katherine were about to meet in a cozy small town. Grace and Elijah walked down the sidewalk, the young woman focused on the task ahead. But then she sighed, slowed down her pace and took Elijah's hand while letting her gaze wander over the nice, well kept older buildings. It didn't make sense to be at the meeting point an hour beforehand. She could use the time to be herself a bit more. When Elijah spared a look at her, she could see hope in his eyes. Hope that she was finally processing.

"At least she chose a nice little town. A good place to settle."

Elijah smiled lightly and squeezed her hand, very happy to receive such small gestures again.

"I don't think that Katerina will ever really settle, but you're right, it seems...peaceful."

For the first time in a week she seemed to relax a bit. Maybe getting away from killing people and hunt Katherine down was what she needed.

He stopped in front of the shop window of a small jewelry store and took a look inside it.

"Oh, you need a new watch? Take this one, it's a bit more modern than your usual ones."

She motioned for a modern, but still elegant highly expensive watch and casually examined the other jewelry behind the window. But it wasn't the watches that Elijah's eyes were glued on. A collection of fine engagement and wedding rings were on display beside the tray of watches. Elijah spared her a side glance, but simply nodded. She didn't seem to notice what caught his eye and for now Elijah didn't want her to know what he was thinking about anyway.

It wasn't the first time that that thought crossed his mind, but in the last few weeks in manifested. They went through a lot lately and for Elijah it even strengthened the wish to be with her forever. Of course, being a man of older values, he wanted to make it official eventually. But he wanted to take his time, choose the perfect setting for this life changing question. Maybe when they had the cure and Grace could finally start to process her brother's death, he would find the right moment to ask her to become his wife.

In silence, they continued walking until they reached the pavilion in the town's centre which was the declared meeting point. Sighing, Elijah turned to Grace.

"I don't think it's a good idea if you stay here. Katerina will provoke you, I'm sure of it and picking up a fight won't help us getting the cure."

Grace furrowed her brows.

"Are you implying that I can't show restrained?"

She withdrew her hand from his, obviously hurt. Elijah pressed his lips into a thin line and stepped closer to her again.

"That's not what I've meant. But I know how angry you are. I can handle Katerina. Why don't you go to that nice little diner we passed? I'll find you there when this is all done."

Rolling her eyes, she sighed. He was right. She probably would rip Katherine to shreds if she saw her.

"Just make it quick."

Elijah nodded and kissed her temple before she left. With a scowl on her face, she walked up to the mentioned diner and took a seat at the counter without spending much attention to her surroundings.

"Coffee, please."

She muttered, too lost in her thoughts to notice that not far away from her a group of people sat that she knew all to well. In contrary to her, they immediately noticed the brunette.

"You got to be kidding me."

A frown crossed Grace's face when she heard the familiar voice. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and glanced to her side only to notice four pairs of eyes on her. Fortunately, the cool expression never left her face, it hid the deep surprise she was feeling. Rebekah, Stefan, Damon and a version of her sister with much more dark make up on sat in the booth, all staring at her.

Grace's eyes were glued on Katherine for a while, as she tried to keep her anger in check. Elijah had been right, she wasn't ready to confront the murderer of her brother. But for him she kept herself from ripping her heart out right on spot.

But what was she doing here? She was supposed to meet with Elijah to hand him the cure and bargain a deal with Nik. They needed her alive to give them the cure.

Summoning all the restraint she had, she stood up and took a seat beside Stefan and flashed Rebekah a smile, before her cold stare settled on the doppelgänger again.

"Amazing, creepy Gracie is here. Makes everything easier."

Damon said sarcastically, but everyone ignored them.

"If you're here...where's Elijah?"

Rebekah asked the question everyone had in their minds. But Grace herself wondered more about the fact what the blonde Original was doing here. She probably would find out soon.

"He was about to meet up with Kitty Cat...oh please don't tell me that my sister took a page from your playbook and dressed up as you to hijack Elijah. Do you really think we're that stupid?"

Katherine still had that amused smile on her attractive features, but Grace saw right through that. She was horrified. Her plan was going off the deep end. She probably had thought that Elijah had ditched Grace, she obviously didn't know about how close the younger vampire had grown to the Mikaelsons.

"Well, at least he's clever enough to leave his princess out of the true business. Should make you notice what he thinks of you, Gracie."

The tension in the booth grew and the Salvatore brothers shifted uncomfortably in their seats. They were oddly quiet, they probably didn't know a thing about what was going on and were just on save Elena mission.

"It was Elena's idea to take Katherine's role over. We had no clue that you and Elijah were here, too. Especially not that you were going to meet with her."

Rebekah chirped in, a worried look directed towards Grace. Her friend could see how much Grace was suffering, still, the blonde wasn't overly happy about another team in the run for the cure.

"Maybe Elijah just noticed that he has better options than baby vamp here."

Silence erupted after Katherine spoke the snarky words. All eyes were on Grace who just smiled cruelly. When they saw her expression, they all finally understood why she was friends with Klaus.

Too fast too see with human eyes, Grace grabbed a knife and threw it at Katherine. Because the doppelgänger couldn't move her hands due to the fork buried in the back of it, the knife cut through her flesh and stuck under her collarbone. Katherine screamed in pain, but was surprised by a fork tearing through the skin of her neck and grazing her windpipe.

"Well, that's hell of a party game."

Grace laughed, while both Salvatores looked at her frightened. Rebekah just chuckled.

"You sure you're ok, Grace?"

Stefan spoke from beside her.

"Never been better. Here, you want a shot? Really helps with deeply buried aggression."

She held a knife out to Stefan, who declined with a shake of his head. Grace just shrugged and then her phone started to buzz in her pocket. Of course it was Elijah. He probably had just seen through Elena's little act.

"Are you alright?"

Elijah asked immediately. He sounded deeply concerned.

"Yes, I'm ok. Anyway, I made the lovely this discovery that your sister is here with Katherine and rest of the scooby gang. Have you welcomed my sister warmly?"

She exchanged a grin with Rebekah. But Elijah didn't seem to be in a joking mood.

"Are you still at the diner?"

Grace leaned forwards to pull the knife and the fork out of Katherine.

"Not for long, Katherine was just about to show us where the cure is. Stay where you are, Rebekah and I will join you when we have it."

She hung up on him before he could reply and discuss the matter with him. Elijah would have his hands full on keeping Elena in check, so it was better if Rebekah and Grace were on their own in this. The blonde immediately understood and grabbed Katherine by her wrist.

But of course the traitorous woman proved to be a liar again and again. She led Damon, Rebekah and Grace to her house and pretended that the cure was gone. Damon found it in the fish pond shortly after and again Katherine managed to push the situation to her advantage. She dipped Damon's head down into the vervain filled pond and threw the cure in the air. Fortunately for Rebekah, she managed to catch it, making it the doppelgänger's chance to flee.

Moments later, they found out that it was a fake cure and Rebekah was still a vampire. Annoyed and angry, Grace stepped out of the house, knowing exactly where she would find Katherine.

The first thing Grace saw was Elena on the ground, her neck seemingly broken. But the two people that stood a bit farer away caught her interest more.

"Elijah, we can work together on this. I never lied to you. I just want my freedom and I think you're in desperate need of some freedom, too."

Katherine placed her hand on Elijah's hand. Elijah wanted to say something, but they were interrupted by Grace's loud and angrily clicking heels.

"Get your hands off him."

She snarled. A smirk grew on Katherine's face, but it vanished when Elijah grabbed her wrist and pushed her away from him.

"Leave."

He said coldly and thankfully she did before she got into any more trouble. Grace took a deep breath and looked at Elijah who was stepping towards her.

"We failed. She still has the cure. She lied to us all along."

The Original vampire sighed and wrapped his arms around his love and pulled her close. She tensed in his embrace, eager to not break down in tears.

It meant that the fear and paranoia would still follow them. Nik would never come to peace knowing that someone had a weapon to make him vulnerable. Grace would always fear that Katherine would do this to Elijah.

"We will find a way."

He said plainly and slowly led her towards the sidewalk again so they could go back to the car and finally drive home.

But while they walked, a familiar shape appeared in front of them. Katherine. Again. The anger in Grace nearly boiled over.

"I don't...I can't."

She whispered while eyeing the doppelgänger. The young vampire didn't have any strength left to fight, but she also couldn't bear seeing Katherine's face anymore, especially not that close to Elijah, knowing that she had the agenda to take him away from her.

Grace walked back to the town's little park and sat down on a bench and simply started crying. She allowed herself to let the tears spill and muffled the sound of her sobs by pressing her hand to her mouth. It all came rushing to her. Finding Katherine and the cure had distracted her so much, she pushed Jeremy's death away fully. Now she was processing it and the pain was stronger than ever. Seeing Elena with her humanity off also did its fair of damage.

She was so weak. And now she even failed to protect her family. There was no way out of this.

It could've been hours, or mere minutes until she felt Elijah's presence beside her. He did the right thing by simply sitting next to her and not touching her. It would've made her crying even harder and Grace already felt embarrassed and self loathing enough. Elijah gave her the time to calm herself until the sobs finally faded. The Original couldn't help but feel relieved that she was finally showing human reactions. The grief must struck her horribly, but it was the only way for her to get better.

After a while he lightly grabbed her wrists and but a small box in her opened hand. When she opened it, she saw the small vial that had the cure inside it. The shock made her tense up, but she released her breath shortly after and shook her head, handing the box back to Elijah.

"Don't be ridiculous. I told you I don't want it."

She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"But things have changed. You can take it, if you want it, Grace. I will stay by your side."

Sighing, she reached for his huge hands to stop him from fiddling with the box.

"Nothing has changed. I want to be with you, forever. Elijah, I want another thousand years. I want an eternity. It's just not that easy right now. But I know it'll get better."

He nodded and with a light smile, he placed a kiss on her hair.

"What do you want to do now?"

Grace looked up to the star lit sky, thinking about his question for a while.

"I want to go home. Then you can decide who you'll give the cure. Both Rebekah and Nik want it."

She knew that she was handing him a huge kind of weight to his shoulders. But if something could fairly decide who deserved the cure, it was Elijah.

The silence was finally comfortable again and it brought both Grace and Elijah hope that one day they could be carefree.

"But if you decide to take it yourself...I would also stand by your side."

It was a strange thought, imagining him as a human. Grace knew that he sometimes struggled with his existence, but for her, Elijah was the example of a good vampire. He was born for this, even if he would never admit it himself, knowing what he had done in his lifetime. Things he hoped Grace would never find out.

"I want that eternity, too."

He put his index finger under her chin so she was forced to look at him. They both smiled and leaned their foreheads onto each other, hoping that this promise would never be broken.


	55. Chapter 55

The tension around the dining table was thick while Elijah decided who would get the cure. Both Rebekah and Nik wanted it dearly, but their oldest brother had it in his hands to choose.

For Grace, he did the right thing by offering it to Rebekah. Even though the idea of having the veil down, and every loved one from the other side would come back sounded tempting, it was simply selfish. With the handful of loved ones, tons of enemies would have another shot at destroying the family and Grace wouldn't have that. For once she needed to be reasonable.

What surprised and amused her at the same time was when Elijah set the condition to Rebekah that she would have to live one day as a human, without any supernatural powers. There his big brother vibes, still educating his siblings even though they were a thousand years old, came through.

The blonde probably thought that this couldn't be that hard, but Grace knew better. She herself was surprised how often she used her vampire abilities in a usual day and she wasn't like that for long. How hard must it be for someone who lived with these advantages for so long? At least Grace still knew the feeling of human weaknesses. She wouldn't trade vampirism in for one day.

Shortly after, the couple was alone in the dining room, Elijah sighing deeply at his siblings' childishness. Grace chuckled slightly.

"Hard to be the oldest brother?"

He shot her a glance, but smiled lightly.

"Sometimes I'm asking myself if they haven't learnt anything in a thousand years. Rebekah's wish...I can understand it, but I can't help myself and think that she will regret this."

Grace placed her hand on top of his and let her thumb stroke his knuckles.

"Tell me about it. Being big bad sister to siblings who hate you is a pain in the ass, too."

Well, actually there was just Elena left. Grace tensed, which Elijah immediately noticed. He took her hand in his larger ones and squeezed it gently. They leaned their foreheads onto each other and closed their eyes for a while, simply enjoying the moment of silence.

But unfortunately, it was short lived.

"Grace!"

Nik's voice calling for her sounded through the whole house. She rolled her eyes and stood up, throwing Elijah an amused glance before she left for the living room.

"What is it?"

After asking her friend, she pulled up a brow in wonder when she saw Caroline standing next to Nik. Where they back on speaking terms?

"Your humanity less sister stole my prom dress and I was um...wondering if you could help me out. I need something of Grace of Monaco magnitude."

Grace couldn't help but chuckle. Prom was just something too normal for their lives, it sounded so irrelevant. But at least Caroline had something she still could cling to.

"...and I thought you would be the better fashion advisor."

Nik chirped in.

"Follow me."

The hybrid gave her a thankful nod, relieved that he could count on her.

...

After they found an amazing vintage dress that fitted Caroline perfectly, Grace helped her with her hair and make up. It felt good to be distracted in that way, simply doing something human, like helping a girl get ready for prom. For a moment they forgot the grudges they held for each other and Grace came back to the conclusion that Caroline was still that girl that could make Nik happy. She was on the same page with him about the fact that it may not be their time now, but it come, she was sure of it.

After the blonde got out, thanking her a hundred times, Grace decided to take the time and roam through the massive dressing room with their ball gowns and relicts from other centuries. She can across a silky black dress that was decorated over and over with light gems that would catch the light beautifully with every movement.

"How was your prom?"

Elijah suddenly leaned in the doorframe, watching her inspecting the dress. It was one of Rebekah's, he could clearly remember the day she wanted to wear it. They were having a ball in their home in New Orleans, one of their last there, and literally five minutes before it began, Rebekah started to panic because she thought that the dress didn't suit her well. So the very expensive fabric was shunned to the darkness of closets for over a century.

He could imagine that it would highlight Grace's lightly tanned skin in a delicate way.

"I don't know. I never made it there. My mum bought me a dress and she was so excited and all...but I wasn't. I knew the boys would bully me again, even tough I would've looked dashing, so I locked myself in my room for the whole evening."

The young vampire laughed while she took the trip down memory lane. Her mum had been so mad, but still it was one of that still carefree memories of her parents. Sometimes she asked herself how they would've reacted when she brought Elijah home. With all of his gentleman charm, they probably would've loved him. They were used to age gaps between Grace and her boyfriends, so they wouldn't even have been surprised. Maybe they wouldn't have been to happy about the Original vampire fact, but well, what they didn't know...

"Put the dress on, Grace."

His voice ripped her out of her melancholic thoughts. She looked up to him confused.

"What?"

He stepped towards her and took the dress from her hands to carefully put it back on the hanger.

"You heard me."

Elijah placed a kiss on her cheek before he walked off again, headed towards their room. Grace stayed back startled, but then shrugged and started undressing.

A while later Grace found Elijah in the large room where they danced the first waltz in their last ball night. Nik sometimes painted in here, but other than that it was usually unused.

Elijah stood in front of the massive hi fi system and pushed some of the black buttons before he turned around to face her. He had put on a tuxedo and even wore a bow tie. The familiar feeling of her breath hitching when she saw him like that rose inside her, but she also felt Elijah's eyes scanning her appearance. His lips parted slightly, but then this stunningly beautiful smile spread on his handsome features as he held his hand out for her.

She cautiously lifted the skirt of her dress to walk closer to him and take his hand. In the exact same moment the enchanting sound of a jazz tune came out of the speakers. Elijah spun her around one time before placing his hand on her hip to pull her into position.

"What are you doing?"

Whispering, she interlaced her fingers with his and slowly they started to move with the rhythm. Grace never had cared much for jazz, but right now the music captivated her fully. It felt like they were thrown back in time and for a moment, she could imagine how they were dancing in the middle of other well dressed people, but only having eyes for each other.

"I can't accept that you never had a prom. To be honest I don't really now how schools interpret this kind of a social event, but I think it's adequate."

The gesture touched Grace that deeply, it made her heart clench out of love for him. How had she deserved this? He literally did everything to make her smile and sometimes he was just so perfect, she couldn't believe it.

"Well, I mean, you lack some disgusting non-alcoholic punch and this carries way more style and taste than any prom could have, but other than that...it's perfect."

She came to a halt to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him lovingly. He returned the gesture, but starting dancing again after pecking her teasingly on her lips. Fortunately, the music changed into a slower tune, allowing the couple to dance more closely together. Grace left her arms wrapped around his neck, while his hands held her waist.

"How come you chose jazz over Beethoven?"

His cheek leaned against hers and Grace could feel his steady, cool breath on her bare shoulder.

"We lived in New Orleans for a while. It's quite hard to withdraw yourself from this kind of music while being there. Well, and I found it fitting, because this dress was created there."

She admired the way he could find passion in art and music. For other people he sometimes may even appear cold, ruthless and with nothing on his mind but protecting his family. That may be his biggest agenda, but beneath the facade there was an educated, open-minded gentleman that had fascinating opinions and a taste for the good things in life.

"You sound like you loved living there."

His expression shortly darkened and he saw pain in his eyes. She knew that they've spent a long time in Louisiana, but there must be some stories to it.

"Let's say it's one of the rare places we once called home."

Grace would've loved to ask more about this topic, but she didn't want to ruin the moment. They danced on like this for what felt like hours, only stopping when they felt the need to kiss each other.

It left them both with this warm, comfortable feeling of being loved and for this moment, they simply were happy.

But of course even those moments had to find their ending. After a while they decided that it was time for Grace to check up on Rebekah, so after one last kiss they parted and Grace changed back into more casual clothes.

She walked down the dirty red carpet that was rolled out in front of the gym, her gaze flicking over the countless screens with pictures of the seniors. Her heart ached when a picture of Jeremy, Elena and Grace showed, all of them having bright smiles on their faces. It was a picture their mum took at Elena's first junior day.

"Look who came out of her glass house without her bodyguards."

Elena's mocking tone sounded from behind her. When Grace turned around, she found her sister in her stolen pink dress, smiling at her coldly.

"Good evening, Elena. Speaking of bodyguards, where are yours?"

The older sister raised a brow.

"Occupied. For the whole evening they were trying to drag some emotions out of me...idiots."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. Grace clenched her hands into fists. Emotionless Elena was even more annoying than her whiny side.

"At least they're having hope. But looks like you're quite comfortable in the bitchy role."

The older vampire wanted to continue on her way, but was stopped by her sister speaking again.

"Looks like you're quite comfortable with pretending that the Mikaelsons really give a damn about you. Don't you think they'll leave you behind whenever they have the chance to?"

Elena wanted to provoke her. It was obvious. Grace tried her best to keep any emotions from coming to surface and put on the cold mask she mastered so perfectly.

"Jealous?"

The sisters stared each other in the eyes. A cruel smile spread on Elena's pink lips.

"Oh, I'm definitely not jealous of the position you're in. Don't you feel guilty? You weren't there when our brother died, because you again were too distracted by fighting for your more precious family. Maybe you're better off turning it off, too."

It was then when a crack ran through the surface. Grace's smile fell and suddenly, she found herself punching Elena in the jaw. The sound of breaking bones brought the tension to a climax, making it burst into fire.

Elena held her cheek in pain, but suddenly she was back in front of her sister and landed a hit in her stomach that made her flying against a tree. Grace saw red and managed to get a tight hold around her throat and she started squeeze.

"Don't you dare say that again."

"Or what?"

The doppelgänger laughed and the women again lunged at each other. They continued the punching for a while, both landing equally much hits, both stained with blood after a short while. Grace had improved her fighting skills, but Elena still had the better technique. But at least Grace was older.

She later one had no clue when it would've stopped, but they were forced to when the Stefan and Damon found them fighting. Stefan held Grace tightly around her waist, while Damon caught Elena's arms.

"What the hell are you doing?"

The younger Salvatore asked bewildered, to which Grace only shrugged him off. She threw a glare at Elena before she walked off without another word. The brothers could imagine what happened anyway. Rebekah was probably already home, too and Grace was full of her own blood, so it wouldn't make much sense to get in anyway.

When she got home, she found a strange scene in front of her. Elijah was standing outside, talking to someone. She could only see the back of the men that stood in front of her love, his hair was honey colored and he wore a plain shirt and jeans. Grace frowned, because she couldn't recognize the person.

But what made the situation even more creepy were the words Elijah spoke.

"This is for you, little sister."

The man only nodded, took the small box that had the cure inside it and walked away.

"Elijah?"

Grace said confused, her pace quickening.

"Welcome back."

He wanted to pull her in for a kiss, but she stopped him by placing her hands on his chest.

"Who was that?"

A deep, confused frown spread on his face as he looked down to her. His gaze adverted over his shoulder to where this stranger person just left.

"It was Rebekah. Of course, why are you..."

His phone suddenly started buzzing, his sister's name appearing on the screen. He answered while looking Grace in the eyes while it dawned on him. Rebekah's voice sounded through the speaker, telling her brother to not hand anyone the cure, because Nik was plotting something. But it wasn't Nik they were worried about this time.

"It's a little to late for that."

Grace walked inside, trying to find the guy they were looking for, but he disappeared into thin air.

"Silas."

She whispered.

...

The next morning started with quite the chaos. Not only was the reveal that Silas now had the cure and that Grace was the only person in whose head he couldn't get quite shocking, but they also found out that Nik disappeared.

Elijah and Grace found a letter written by the one and only Katherine Pierce in the living room, pointing out that there was a witch in New Orleans that was conspiring against the hybrid. At least they now had an explanation to why Nik disappeared so suddenly.

The Silas problem was pushed away for the moment and it instantly was clear that Elijah would follow his brother to keep him from further harm...or him harming the wrong people.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to come with you?"

Grace helped Elijah packing his bag. He had pointed out that he was too worried about her well being to let her come with him.

"New Orleans' witches are quite...nasty. I would love to have you by my side, my love but I fear Niklaus' will occupy me too much. Please, it will be easier if I'm not concerned about your safety."

She snorted.

"As if Mystic Falls is that safe."

"But at least here you can promise me to stay out of trouble for one day."

Elijah took her hands in his, his eyes begging her to stay safe. Grace took a deep breath while her shoulders sunk down. He was right, but still she thought that she maybe could talk some sense into Nik. But Elijah was his brother, he needed to decided. Of course, that didn't take away her worries for his and Nik's well being. Nasty witches weren't the best sign.

"Just please come back in one piece."

She sighed and hugged him tightly.

"I promise. I'll be back as soon as possible."

The Original leaned down to her to steal a longing kiss. Then he let go of her and walked towards the door.

"Elijah."

He stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, waiting for her to say something.

"I love you."

A smile tugged on the corners of his lips and he felt the urge to simply stay with her stronger than ever.

"I love you, too."

Elijah took her appearance in one last time before he stepped through the door and closed it behind him.

With a sigh, Grace let herself fall into the armchair behind her. She immediately regretted saying the big words. Not because she didn't mean them, these words were the most accurate truth ever coming from her mouth, but because the fear that her own personal curse would kick in had a tight hold around her.

She hoped that those words wouldn't change everything.


End file.
